Prime Minister

Nuclear Weapons: Israel

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed matters relating to (a) Israel's nuclear weapons arsenal and (b) prospects of Israel joining the multilateral Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with her Israeli counterpart during his visit of 6 February 2017.

Mrs Theresa May: During my meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel we committed to working together on a wide range of areas including defence and security. We discussed the important work our countries do together and committed to talk further about how we can deepen this cooperation.

Israel: Palestinians

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed a two-state solution with the Prime Minister of Israel during his visit to the UK of February 2017.

Mrs Theresa May: During my meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel we discussed the Middle East Peace Process and the UK’s firm commitment to a two-state solution as the best way to bring stability and peace to the region. I also reiterated the UK’s opposition to settlement activity.

Department for Work and Pensions

Flexible Support Fund

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants have received support through the Flexible Support Fund following changes to work allowances introduced in March 2016.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available

Bereavement Benefits

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to publish an updated impact assessment for plans to replace bereavement benefits with bereavement support payments; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Department published an impact assessment in 2014 that contained a very detailed analysis of the Bereavement Support Payment which was introduced by the Pensions Act 2014.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the personalisation pathfinder initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money has been spent from the public purse on the personalisation pathfinder initiative in each year since its launch.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in which locations and on what dates personalisation pathfinders have been commenced; and whether each personalisation pathfinder is still in operation.

Penny Mordaunt: The Personalisation Pathfinder commenced in April 2015 and finished at the end of September 2016. It was running in three Jobcentre Plus Districts which were Greater Wessex, South West Wales and Surrey and Sussex. The evaluation of the Personalisation Pathfinder continues. As is standard practice the findings will be published in due course.  The allocated budget for the Personalisation PathfinderFinancial year14/1515/1616/1717/18Allocated Budget£115,000£5,435,000£955,000£100,000

Winter Fuel Payments

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had their eligibility for winter fuel allowance stopped as a result of the introduction of temperature tests.

Richard Harrington: The available statistics on the annual number of Winter Fuel Payments made to eligible individuals in each European Economic Area country, including those countries subject to the temperature restriction on payments, can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/winter-fuel-payments-by-eea-country

Jobcentres: Closures

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average rate of unemployment is in those communities in which his Department is proposing to close jobcentres.

Damian Hinds: It is worth clarifying that although some Jobcentre buildings are proposed for closure, the staff and services will merge with nearby offices to continue delivering DWP services within communities. We are committed to retaining a Jobcentre network and continuing to serve people in all areas of the country to make sure they can continue to access the services they need, and the purpose of the equality analysis is to help establish how many people are likely to be affected by the proposals to close some offices. We are unable to provide the average unemployment rates specifically for the areas where a Jobcentre building is proposed for closure however the claimant counts for each Jobcentre are available from the following link: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk. Guidance for users is available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Jobcentre Plus: Companies

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which companies Jobcentre Plus has been barred from making referrals to.

Damian Hinds: In relation to jobs advertised on Universal Jobmatch, there is not a list held centrally of companies that is issued to our local offices as a means of barring referrals. To advertise job vacancies on Universal Jobmatch, all employers/recruiters are required to register through the Government Gateway. They are obliged to sign up to detailed Terms & Conditions, agreeing that the jobs they advertise on the Universal Jobmatch service are available to jobseekers on an open and fair basis; and that all vacancies comply with employment related legislation including the Equality Act 2010, Health and Safety legislation and Working Time Regulations.Additionally, 'Contact Us' and “Report This Job” facilities are provided within the Universal Jobmatch service so users can quickly highlight any employers that they have concerns about, which are then fully investigated.

Jobcentres: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are served by (a) Tile Hill and (b) Cofa Court jobcentres in Coventry; and how many such claimants are (i) disabled and (ii) women.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available. However, such information that is available is in the tables and provides the stock of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit (required to seek work) claimants; the number of new claims to Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support from people who are attending (a) Tile Hill and (b) Cofa Court Jobcentres in Coventry.Table (a) Tile Hill The stock of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants attending Tile Hill JobcentreThe number of people making a new claim to Employment and Support Allowance and attending Tile Hill JobentreThe number of people making a new claim to Income Support and attending Tile Hill Jobcentre December 2016November 2016November 2016Female2458218Male405 Table (b) Cofa Court The stock of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants attending Cofa Court JobcentreThe number of people making a new claim to Employment and Support Allowance and attending Cofa Court JobentreThe number of people making a new claim to Income Support and attending Cofa Court Jobcentre December 2016November 2016November 2016Female1,30037055Male2,090

Food Banks

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his Department's policy to (a) collect data on the number of people subject to a benefit sanction who have used food banks at any time over the duration of that sanction and (b) publish that data.

Damian Hinds: The Department does not make direct referrals to food banks; therefore no data are collected. There are no plans to change this approach.

Jobcentres: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people using Tile Hill Jobcentre Plus in Coventry South have been informed in writing of the closure of that jobcentre.

Damian Hinds: It is important to remember that the announcements made in relation to the Written Statement of 26 January 2017 are proposals at this stage and not final decisions. The proposal to merge staff and services from Tile Hill to Cofa Court Jobcentre is currently under public consultation and we will carefully consider any concerns raised during the process. Once a final decision is made, claimants will be informed at an appropriate time prior to any office move. Detail of current public consultations, including Tile Hill, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=consultations&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-for-work-pensions&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=&to_date=

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing women affected by the increase in state pension age to retire early on a reduced pension; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Many alternative options to the existing arrangements have been put forward. All of these options, including the actuarially reduced pension, suffer from substantial practical problems and would create extra cost to the taxpayer.Even if actuarially neutral, such an option would result in losses of income tax and National Insurance payments. To give some idea of the scale of this, for individuals affected by the Pensions Act 2011, additional income tax and NI receipts from the change to State Pension age were estimated to be up to £8.3 billion.Furthermore, the new State Pension’s key features are simplicity—giving people the clarity and confidence to save—and a value set above the minimum income guarantee standard. An actuarially reduced pension would undermine both these key features. It would complicate outcomes and, if people’s actuarially reduced state pension were below the minimum guarantee, might increase the need for means-tested support amongst pensioners.There are also legal risks associated with offering affected women an actuarially reduced pension. The requirement to take account of equality between men and women in framing new legislation means any new transitional provisions aimed just at those women affected by recent rises to the State Pension age run the risk of legal challenge.This matter has been comprehensively debated in Parliament and the Government has been very clear that there will be no further changes to the current arrangements or any financial redress in lieu of pensions.

Social Security Benefits

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of changes in the level of inflation on working age benefit claimants in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of changes in the level of inflation on the value of social security benefits in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: We know that work is the best route out of poverty. That is why the Government has introduced welfare reforms – such as those included in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 to increase work incentives and reduce welfare dependency. These reforms are working. We now have the lowest rate of unemployment in over a decade, and the lowest number of workless households since records began. Millions of people are taking home more of what they earn thanks to this Government’s actions to lower taxes and introduce the National Living Wage. This has helped give lower earners their fastest pay rise in 20 years.

Social Security Benefits: Care Leavers

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many young people leaving care have had their benefits sanctioned or suspended in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: The information requested in respect of care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

JD Sports

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus on referrals of claimants to JD Sports.

Damian Hinds: The Department has not issued any national instructions to staff about the referral of claimants to JD Sports. At a local level, the Jobcentre in Rochdale suspended recruitment activity with JD sports in Rochdale pending the outcome of a DWP investigation into working practices following allegations made by a Channel 4 documentary. This DWP investigation has concluded and we have now lifted this suspension.

Children: Maintenance

Stuart Blair Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what advice services there are for people with a child maintenance arrangement who (a) are moving away from Child Support Agency (CSA) arrangements and (b) have a child maintenance arrangement with the CSA.

Caroline Nokes: Child Maintenance Options provides free and impartial information and support to help separated parents make decisions about their child maintenance arrangements. Parents, or anyone else with an interest in child maintenance can contact Child Maintenance Options at any time for information and support. If a parent is notified that their Child Support Agency case is due to close they can contact Child Maintenance Options to help make an informed decision before opening a case with Child Maintenance Service. Child Maintenance Options also signpost parents to support organisations to offer further advice. Clients can contact Options at any stage during their case for advice or guidance. Child Support Agency caseworkers are also trained to offer advice to parents and signpost to relevant organisations where necessary.

Industrial Health and Safety

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the regulation of health and safety at work of the UK leaving the EU.

Penny Mordaunt: The government has been clear that the same protections for workers will remain in place after the United Kingdom exits the European Union as are currently in place. This includes protections for workers’ health and safety.

Bereavement Payment: Food Poverty

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes to bereavement payments on food poverty in (a) rural areas and (b) Hemsworth constituency.

Caroline Nokes: The new Bereavement Support Payment will provide targeted financial support at the time when it is needed most without affecting access to benefits that contribute towards everyday living costs.

Food Poverty: Rural Areas

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to tackle food insecurity in rural areas; and if he will make an assessment of the reason for recent trends in the levels of such food insecurity.

Damian Hinds: We are reforming the welfare system to enable people to achieve financial independence and meet their everyday needs, by making sure that work pays and that those who cannot work are protected. We know the most effective route out of poverty is work and this Government has delivered a new record high employment rate of 74.6% and average pay up 2.7% over the year. As a safeguard for people needing more support, we have a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans.

Women against State Pension Inequality

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has further plans to meet Women Against State Pension Inequality campaigners; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: I am responding on behalf of the Secretary of State, as the Minister for Pensions I have responsibility for this issue. We have no plans to meet with WASPI campaigners. The Government has been quite clear that the demands of WASPI will not be met, confirming that the Government will make no further changes to their pension age or pay them financial redress.

Young Offenders: Social Security Benefits

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many young people on release from Young Offender Institutions have had their benefits sanctioned or suspended in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: This information requested is not available.

Children: Poverty

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2017 to Question 61821, on child poverty, what the evidential basis is to demonstrate that parental worklessness and children's educational attainment are the main two measures that can make the difference to child poverty.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2017 to Question 61821, on children: poverty, what the evidential basis is for replacing income-related targets with statutory measures of parental worklessness and children's educational attainment areas.

Damian Hinds: Tackling child poverty and disadvantage is a priority for this government.Income-related targets drive action that focuses on increasing incomes above a ‘notional’ poverty line, tackling the symptoms but not the underlying causes of poverty and disadvantage. We are convinced that improving long-term outcomes for disadvantaged children requires a fundamentally different approach.The Government’s 2013 evidence review demonstrated a broad consensus that parental worklessness is a key driver of child poverty and that good educational attainment is the biggest single factor in ensuring that poor children do not end up as poor adults. The Child Poverty Transitions Report, published in 2015, found that 74% of poor children in workless families that moved into full employment exited poverty.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285389/Cm_8781_Child_Poverty_Evidence_Review_Print.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/436482/rr900-child-poverty-transitions.pdf This evidence is reflected in our new statutory measures of parental worklessness and children’s educational attainment. We will build on these measures and say more about our approach in our forthcoming Green Paper on Social Justice.

*No heading*

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that employers are encouraged to recruit and retain disabled people.

Penny Mordaunt: ‘Improving Lives – the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ sets out the Government’s proposals for improving work and health outcomes for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including how we can further drive and support employer action. Through the Green Paper we are asking about the barriers preventing employers from recruiting and retaining disabled people and people with health conditions, and what measures would help them in doing so. We are also taking practical steps to promote the benefits of employing disabled people through our Disability Confident campaign which includes promotion of other sources of support such as the DWP’s Access to Work Scheme and its associated Mental Health Support Service for Employees.

*No heading*

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the number of people in work in the East Midlands.

Damian Hinds: The number of people in employment in the East Midlands has increased by 37,000 over the past year. At 75.7%, the employment rate is close to a record high for the region.

Home Office

Free Movement of People

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what controls on freedom of movement are available to the Government within the EU Treaties.

Mr Robert Goodwill: EU nationals may enter the UK and reside for up to three months from the date of entry, provided that they do not become a burden on the social assistance system in the UK. EU nationals wishing to stay beyond three months can only do so where they are exercising a Treaty right. Exercising Treaty rights in this context means they must be working, self-employed, self-sufficient or a student, or the family member of an EU national who is exercising a Treaty right. These requirements are set out in Directive 2004/38/EC (often referred to as ‘the Free Movement Directive’). This EU Directive applies to all EU Member States. The Directive is currently implemented in the UK through the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016.

Human Trafficking

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals to the National Referral Mechanism under the claim of adult-sexual exploitation resulted in positive conclusive decisions in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015.

Sarah Newton: The numbers of positive conclusive decisions made through the National Referral Mechanism for claims of adult-sexual exploitation are*: YearPositive conclusive decisions*201326120142112015216 *The data is based on management information provided by the National Crime Agency. The veracity of this information has not been verified by the Home Office

Dogs: Smuggling

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps Border Force is taking to reduce the number of dogs being brought into the UK illegally.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and local authorities lead on enforcement activity to tackle the illegal import of dogs. Border Force works closely with these bodies and will make referrals for enforcement action where such imports are detected.A National Co-operation Agreement between Border Force and Defra provides a clear framework for co-operation to ensure the effective enforcement of legislation governing animals at the border that are not protected by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), including dogs.

Cybercrime

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of police work primarily on cybercrime cases; and if she will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins. These data include officers whose primary function is ‘Cyber Crime’ and are available in the accompanying data tables on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2016 Officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function. The 'Cyber Crime' function was added to the Police Objective Analysis framework in 2015/16, and is used only by forces with a dedicated Cyber Crime Unit. As at 31 March 2016, there were 351 officers who worked primarily in a dedicated Cyber Crime Unit. The Home Office is unable to separately identify officers who work primarily on cybercrime cases in forces where there is no dedicated Cyber Crime Unit. Such specialist roles are likely to be embedded across multiple units and therefore recorded against a number of different functions in the Police Objective Analysis framework. For this reason, the Home Office is unable to calculate a reliable estimate for the proportion of officers who work primarily on cyber crime cases.

All Party Fire Safety and Rescue Parlt Group

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service will meet the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group.

Brandon Lewis: I would be pleased, diary permitting and subject to the agenda, to meet with the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group.

Home Office: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62601, how many contractors, temporary staff and guests have been given a security pass or unescorted day pass who are (a) an employee of and (b) seconded from a private firm that has been awarded a Home Office contract or lobbied the Department.

Sarah Newton: Individual departments are responsible for managing access to their sites. The issuing of security passes to persons not directly employed by the Department (such as contractors or site workers), providing that they hold the appropriate security clearances and have a genuine business need to have regular access to a specific site, is normal practice. It is not necessary to request or record the details referred to in the question as part of the process of issuing passes.

Domestic Violence: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what educational programmes the Government makes available to youth bodies to help support young people who are the victims of domestic abuse.

Sarah Newton: The Home Office and the Government Equalities Office have committed £2 million for a further phase of the “Teenage Relationship Abuse” campaign, called “Disrespect NoBody,” which is taking place this year from February to May 2017. The campaign encourages young people to rethink their understanding of abuse in relationships, including issues such as sexting. It also addresses all forms of relationship abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and situations including same-sex relationships. It is targeted at 12 to 18-year-old boys and girls, with the aim of preventing them from becoming the perpetrators or victims of abuse in relationships. We have worked with the PSHE association to produce lesson plans that cover relationship abuse, consent and sexting, which are available on their website for use by schools and youth bodies. The campaign is also supported by a website where young people can receive guidance and advice.

Police National Computer

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2017 to Question 61991, on what date the issue of the omission relating to the recording of licence conditions on the Police National Computer was resolved.

Brandon Lewis: This issue was resolved on 19 April 2016.

DNA: Databases

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of prisoners in England and Wales have a profile on the national DNA database.

Brandon Lewis: The National DNA Database does not contain information on whether a profile is from a serving prisoner. However, there are good reasons to believe that a significant majority of the prison population has a profile on the NDNAD. Police forces have had the power to retain DNA taken from those convicted of recordable offences since the establishment of the DNA database in 1995 and legal powers have existed since 1996 to take DNA samples from those in prison.

Counter-terrorism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to publish the Counter Extremism Bill.

Sarah Newton: Legislation to tackle extremism is being considered within Government. We will consult fully on any proposals for legislation before they are introduced.

Slavery: Victim Support Schemes

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take in response to the letter of 10 January 2017 from the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on identifying, referring and supporting victims of modern slavery in the UK's National Referral Mechanism.

Sarah Newton: We are reviewing the identification of and support provided to victims of modern slavery and are piloting a new National Referral Mechanism model. The pilot is due to end on 31 March and will be fully evaluated. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s letter will be considered alongside the full evaluation of the pilot.

Skilled Workers: Visas

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61413, on general practitioners: foreign nationals, on how many occasions the Tier 2 (General) category annual limit has been reached only by occupations on the Shortage Occupation List since 2010.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61413, on general practitioners: foreign nationals, on how many occasions the Tier 2 (General) category annual limit has been reached since 2010.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61413, on general practitioners: foreign nationals, which occupations are on the Shortage Occupation List.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61413, on general practitioners: foreign nationals, whether GPs are on the Shortage Occupation List.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Tier 2 (General) annual limit is divided into monthly quotas. Since its introduction, the monthly quotas have been oversubscribed only during the period of June to October 2015. To-date, the annual limit has not been reached. Places in the limit are prioritised according to whether the job is in a shortage occupation or PhD-level occupation, and by salary. No monthly quota has ever been allocated solely to occupations on the Shortage Occupation List. The Shortage Occupation List is based on recommendations from the independent Migration Advisory Committee. General Practitioners do not currently appear on the list. The list can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tier-2-shortage-occupation-list

Entry Clearances

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether UK Visas and Immigration plans to publish guidelines on how earnings and dividends should be presented where the income threshold is met by the sponsor for entry clearance under Appendix FM applications.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where people can receive advice on how to present evidence on earnings and dividends as part of the financial requirement to be considered as part of an entry clearance application for a family member.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The information and evidence required in respect of employment and dividend income relied upon to meet the income threshold for partner entry clearance applications under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules is set out in part 3 of appendix 2 to the visa application form 4A and in sections 5 and 6 of the Immigration Directorate Instructions for Appendix FM 1.7 Financial Requirement. These documents can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Human Trafficking: Prostitution

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Official Development Assistance funding was used to support people trafficked into the sex industry in the UK in each of the last three years.

Sarah Newton: The Home Office has not used Official Development Assistance funding to support individuals trafficked into the sex industry in the UK. Following a successful reasonable grounds decision, all potential victims of modern slavery, including those trafficked into the sex industry in the UK, are entitled to 45 days of support, funded by the Government. This support meets and exceeds England and Wales’ obligations under Article 12 of the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT), and Article 11 of the European Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims. Support is tailored to individual needs and can include accommodation, subsistence, counselling, access to mental, physical and dental health services, and signposting to legal support.

Slavery

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the task force announced by the Prime Minister on 31 July 2016 to accelerate progress on tackling modern slavery.

Sarah Newton: The taskforce has met twice, 3 November 2016 and 12 January 2017 and includes representation from central Government and leading stakeholders. The taskforce aims to do more to bring perpetrators to justice and to support victims both domestically and overseas with the focus on four specific objectives:o Bring efforts and resources targeted at modern slavery in line with resources to tackle other forms of organised crime;o increase and improve investigations into the perpetrators of modern slavery, through further education of law enforcement officers on the nature of modern slavery offences;o improve successful prosecution levels with further education of prosecuting authorities on modern slavery; ando improve international cooperation to tackle modern slavery.We are already seeing progress in gathering intelligence on perpetrators of this vile crime and are developing our international response to tackle the threat overseas and strengthen law enforcement cooperation.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been referred to drug and alcohol dependency programmes under Section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 since that Act came into force.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 on improving safety and support for people involved in prostitution.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.

Brandon Lewis: As we set out in the Government's response to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), we are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to escape it. Our response additionally sets out that the Government will work with other Government departments, researchers and academics to develop a comprehensive, impartial understanding of the nature, prevalence and composition of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales.This report will form the basis to review the effectiveness of current legislation, including Sections 14 and 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.Data on Engagement and Support Orders made under section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are not held centrally.

Refugees: Children

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Written Statement of 8 February 2017, HCWS467, on immigration, on what date she decided to change the number of unaccompanied child refugees taken by the UK under the Dubs amendment.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There is no change to the number of unaccompanied children to be transferred to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act. Under the Immigration Act we made a commitment to transfer a specified number of unaccompanied refugee children to the UK, following consultation with local authorities on capacity.On 8 February, the Government announced that we will transfer the specified number of 350 children to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act. This includes the more than 200 children already transferred from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance.The UK has contributed significantly to hosting, supporting and protecting the most vulnerable children affected by the migration crisis. In the year ending September 2016, the UK granted asylum or another form of leave to over 8,000 children. By the end of this Parliament, we will have resettled 20,000 Syrian nationals through our Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and a further 3,000 of the most vulnerable children and their families from the Middle East and North Africa region under the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme.

Syria: Refugees

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Minister of her Department leads on discussions at EU level on the wellbeing of Syrian refugees who have entered mainland Europe.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 30 January 2017 to Question 61657.

Police: Informers

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness, value for money and implications for the police code of ethics of the practice of paying informants on the part of the police and security services.

Brandon Lewis: Informants play an important role in the prevention and detection of crime, particularly in serious organised crime and terrorism investigations. The use of informants is subject to strict authorisation controls and oversight framework, as set out in the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Code of Practice. The College of Policing’s Code of Ethics also makes clear that officers who authorise or perform covert policing roles must keep in mind at all times the principles and standards set out in the Code of Ethics. Remuneration to informants for information provided is an operational matter and it is for each law enforcement agency (LEA) to consider what is appropriate on a case-by-case basis. The use of these powers is overseen by the Surveillance Commissioner for the police and by the Intelligence Services Commissioner for the security and intelligence agencies.

Immigration: Documents

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on applicants for further leave to remain, indefinite leave or citizenship losing their jobs on account of not being able to show original documents to support such applications; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Where a person subject to immigration control has made an immigration application before their previous leave to remain expires and is asked to demonstrate their right to work by an employer under the provisions to prevent illegal working in the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, the Home Office provides a checking service which will confirm whether the individual has a continued entitlement to work pending a decision on their application.

Detention Centres

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what  her policy is on granting hon. Members clearance to visit immigration removal centres outside of their constituency.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken is to respond to requests by hon. Members to visit immigration removal centres.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hon. Members have (a) requested and (b) been granted clearance to visit (i) immigration removal centres and (ii) Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in the last three years for which figures are available.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The requirement to obtain the permission of the Secretary of State to view an immigration removal centre (IRC) is set out in the Detention Centre Rules 2001. In addition to security and safety considerations, visits to view IRCs can affect the regime for detainees and are therefore subject to careful consideration and management to minimise disruption and intrusion.All requests for visits by Honourable Members require the agreement of the Minister for Immigration, with local constituency MPs generally given priority over non-constituency MPs.Management information shows that over the last 3 years 22 Honourable Members have requested to visit an IRC, including Yarl’s Wood, of which 21 were granted clearance to visit. This is provisional management information and has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

Fire Stations: Closures

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fire station closures there have been in England in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Official statistics on the total number of fire stations in England are available at the following link in Table 1403:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables#other

Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to commence the appointment process for the second Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Sarah Newton: The first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner was appointed by Government on a three year fixed term contract, which ends on 26 November 2017 Any future appointment process, later this year, will comply with the New Public Appointments Governance Code which was published on 16 December 2016.

Fraud

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) protect businesses subject to CEO fraud and (b) hold accountable banks which have not followed money-laundering check procedures in opening accounts.

Mr Ben Wallace: The threat posed by frauds enabled by social engineering, such as in CEO fraud, is one this Government takes very seriously. Through the Joint Fraud Taskforce, a truly innovative collaboration between the financial sector, law enforcement and Government, we are driving system-wide improvements to remove vulnerabilities which fraudster exploit to commit this type of crime. The Taskforce is investing in a nationwide fraud prevention campaign ‘Take 5’, funded by the financial sector and Government, so that individuals know how to act when faced by a fraudster to avoid being scammed. The Taskforce is also developing a funds repatriation scheme, so that stolen money can be tracked across the payment network, frozen, then repatriated back to the victim of the crime also stopping the money from getting into the hands of the criminal.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has the objective of protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system. The FCA’s rules require that firms must maintain effective systems and controls to prevent the risk that they might be exploited by criminals. These systems and controls should enable the firm to identify, assess, monitor and manage money laundering risk. A firm’s systems and controls must be comprehensive and proportionate to the nature, scale and complexity of its activities. Where a firm’s systems and controls are not adequate, the FCA can and does take enforcement action. On 31 January, the FCA fined Deutsche Bank £163,076,224 for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) control framework during the period between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015. This is the largest financial penalty for AML controls failings ever imposed by the FCA.

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that premises used by asylum accommodation providers as temporary accommodation are fit to house vulnerable people.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Providers of asylum accommodation are contractually obliged to ensure that they understand any particular characteristics and special needs of those in their care, and provide adequate and appropriate signposting to health services and support systems. All accommodation needs to be safe, habitable and fit for purpose and monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure property standards are met and maintained.

Asylum: Housing

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people granted asylum in the UK in initial accommodation are properly supported for the duration of their stay.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Asylum seekers are usually moved from Initial Accommodation to Dispersed Accommodation before their asylum claim is decided. When a supported asylum seeker is granted leave they are given 28 days accommodation and support to allow them to access mainstream benefits and the labour market and secure accommodation. The Home Office works closely with Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that claims for mainstream benefits are processed during the 28 day grace period.

Fraud

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fraud offences were recorded by Action Fraud in each year since 2013; and how many of those offences were then passed onto the police.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office collects data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) on the number of recorded fraud offences in England and Wales, including offences recorded by Action Fraud. These data, which are published by the ONS, are available on their website at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice#datasets (see ‘Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables’ – Table A4). The Home Office also collects data on the number of dissemination packages that were transferred to the police. Dissemination packages contain cases of reported fraud that NFIB have assessed as having sufficient grounds to allocate it to a police force for investigation. One dissemination package could contain multiple fraud offences. Disseminations data are published by the Home Office and are available on Gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016 (see ‘Crime Outcomes in England and Wales: year ending March 2016 – data tables’ – Table B1).

Police: Training

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the effect of its decision to stop direct funding for the digital media investigators course on the level of take-up of that course.

Brandon Lewis: The direct funding provided by the Home Office for the Digital Media Investigators course ensured that a national cadre was successfully established by March 2016. Throughout 2016/17 the College of Policing has continued to deliver Digital Media Investigator training, addressing demand from police forces who require training. This is planned to continue into 2017-2018.

Home Office: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62601, on security at her Department, how many security passes have been issued to people who work for private companies who have (a) currently or previously been awarded government contracts and (b) previously or are currently bidding for government contracts.

Sarah Newton: The issuing of all passes is carried out in accordance with the department’s security policy. The information requested is not required as part of the process for issuing passes.

Home Office: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62601, on Home Office Security, how many passes for the groups provided in that Answer were have been issued.

Sarah Newton: I am sorry but this information is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Passports

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2016 to Question 54640, on passports, what the age profile is of UK passport holders.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The table below shows the age profile as a percentage of valid UK passports in circulation. This information is taken from the number of valid UK passports as of 31 December 2016. A valid passport is one that is not damaged, cancelled or expired. These statistics have been taken from a live operational database and as such, numbers may change as information on that system is updated.  Age %0 to 55.06%6 to 105.23%11 to 155.18%16 to 205.71%21 to 256.81%26 to 306.95%31 to 356.69%36 to 406.52%41 to 457.00%46 to 507.89%51 to 557.98%56 to 606.92%61 to 655.94%66 to 705.99%71 to 754.24%76 to 802.90%81 to 851.71%86 to 900.88%91 to 950.31%96 to 1000.07%>1000.01%Total100.00%

Immigration

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings she has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the financial, legal and logistical implications for local authorities of the Immigration Act.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Ministers and officials from the Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government meet regularly to discuss matters relating to local authorities, including the Immigration Act 2016.

Refugees: Children

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings she or the Minister of State for Immigration have had with Lord Dubs to discuss implementation of the Immigration Act.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Baroness Williams of Trafford, Minister of State at the Home Office, has regular ongoing meetings with Lord Dubs to discuss implementation of section 67 of the Immigration Act. The Minister of State for Immigration met with Lord Dubs in September last year to discuss the same issues.

Department of Health

Colorectal Cancer

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the rates of early diagnosis for bowel cancer.

David Mowat: Bowel cancer screening in England is offered at two stages to help detect bowel cancer early. Bowel scope screening (BSS) is offered as a one off test at 55. The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme then offers screening by Faecal Occult Blood (FOBt) testing every two years for men and women aged between 60 and 74. In June 2016, Ministers accepted the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recommendation for Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) to be used as the primary test for bowel cancer replacing FOBt as a more sensitive, accurate and acceptable test. FIT is expected to increase screening uptake by around 10% and result in around 200,000 more people a year being tested, potentially saving hundreds of lives. FIT will be implemented from April 2018. Public Health England’s (PHE) Be Clear on Cancer campaigns aim to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of specific cancers, and to encourage those with symptoms to see their doctor promptly to aid early diagnosis. PHE is also working in partnership with Cancer Research UK to run a regional test of a Be Clear on Cancer branded campaign promoting uptake of bowel screening. The results of this pilot will be thoroughly evaluated and, if successful, it will be considered for wider rollout. Health Education England pledged to fund the training of 200 non-medical endoscopists (NMEs) to significantly increase endoscopy capacity in England. The first cohort began training at the end of January 2016 and the second in April 2016 to deliver 40 NMEs. Following a successful evaluation, a further 40 NMEs began training in January 2017. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s updated referral guidelines for suspected cancer (June 2015) could save around 5,000 lives a year, with general practitioners urged to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold for tests.

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Dental Services

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many extractions of multiple teeth for children under the age of 18 in Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust took place in each year since 2005; what the cost of such extractions was in each such year; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: We do not hold information on the cost or the number of children under 18 that have had multiple teeth extractions in Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Brain: Tumours

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to assess the effectiveness of 5-aminolevulinic acid treatment for high grade brain tumours; and whether this treatment will be made available nationally.

Nicola Blackwood: Through its technology appraisal programme, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides independent, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether drugs and treatments represent a clinically and cost effective use of NHS resources. NICE has advised that it has not considered the use of 5-aminolevulinic acid for the treatment of high grade brain tumours. In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for NHS organisations to make decisions on the availability of treatments based on an assessment of the available evidence.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 60941, on blood: contamination, how many such applications have been received from bereaved people since 27 January 2017; and how many of those applications have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

Nicola Blackwood: Since 27 January the schemes have received 47 applications. This is in addition to the 270 applications they have received prior to this date. All 317 applications are going through a rigorous review and verification process of the evidence being provided. The schemes have confirmed that they are still on track to make all accepted applications’ payments by the end of March 2017.

Care Homes: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the capacity available in care homes in Coventry for patients who are ready to leave hospital.

David Mowat: The number of care home beds in Coventry is currently 1,994 which has gone up from 1,889 in 2013. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) collect data on the number of beds in each care home. The list of all CQC registered locations (including care homes) is reported online at:http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/how-get-and-re-use-cqc-information-and-data#directory however, the data do not show occupancy rates. The Department continues to monitor capacity and effectiveness of the market.

Dental Services

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2017 to Question 61554, what information on the availability of dental services his Department routinely collects.

David Mowat: The information that is routinely collected is set out below: - Dental Commissioning Statistics, EnglandThese statistics report the volume of Units of Dental Activity commissioned by NHS England for the upcoming 12 months. This data is collected by NHS England and published quarterly at local office, regional and national level by NHS England. The latest publication can be found here:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2017/02/02/dc0164738_dec16/ - NHS Dental Statistics for England: Patients Seen - by Dental PracticeThese statistics report the number of adult patients seen in the previous 24 months and the number of children seen in the previous 12 months, for National Health Service dental care. This data is published quarterly at clinical commissioning group (CCG), local authority and national level. The data is collected by NHS Business Services Authority and published by NHS Digital for public use. The latest publication can be found here:http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=23602&q=NHS+Dental+Statistics+for+England&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top - General Practitioner (GP) Patient Survey Dental Statistics, EnglandThe GP Patient Survey, previously published twice yearly, will be published annually from July 2017 at national, regional and CCG level. It includes information about the number of patients who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years, how successful they were and for those who did not try to get an appointment a question to ask why they hadn’t tried. The data is collected by Ipsos Mori on behalf of NHS England and published by Ipsos Mori and NHS England. The latest publication can be found here:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2016/07/07/gpps_dent_y10w23357969/

Dental Services: Children

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2017 to Question 61555, how many children were seen in each 12 month period from 2010 to 2016; and what proportion of those patients were seen as an emergency appointment in each such period.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2017 to Question 61555, how many patients were seen in each 12 month period from 2010 to 2016; and what proportion of those patients were seen as an emergency appointment in each such period.

David Mowat: Information is not available in the format requested. Data is collected on the number of adults seen in the last 24 months and the number of children seen in the last 12 months.Data for children seen in the previous 12 months is published quarterly and can be found, for the latest period 31 March 2015 to 30 September 2016, in the table below.Information is not available on the proportion of patients seen as an emergency appointment for adults or children. Count of the number of patients aged 0 to 17 seen by a National Health Service dentist in the 12 months to specified dates, and as a percentage of all 0-17 year olds in England12 month period endingNumber of patientsPercentage of population (%)  30 September 20166,731,43757.630 June 20166,723,85457.6 31 December 201527,382,26863.730 September 20157,288,13062.930 June 20157,265,50062.731 March 20157,064,65060.9 Notes:1 The figures are for the number of patients seen at least once during the 12 month period. Patients are counted in this data set on their first visit only.2 Data are not available for the number of child patients seen in the 12 months to 31 March 2016. This was due to the development of a new methodology that allowed data to be published at clinical commissioning group and local authority geographies from June 2016 onwards.

Health Services: Staffordshire

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with North Staffordshire Clinical Care Group on lines of responsibility for cancer and end-of-life care services delivered for the Group by private sector organisations.

David Mowat: There have been no discussions between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and North Staffordshire Clinical Care Group on lines of responsibility for cancer and end of life care services.

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the performance of the North West Ambulance Service; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: A number of activities are being taken to improve the performance of the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) ambulance service including steps to increase the efficiency of handovers at accident and emergency departments and to identify good practice and innovative schemes aimed at reducing the pressure on the ambulance service.NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Review will transform ambulance services from transport services into mobile treatment centres with greater use of “hear & treat” (closing calls over the phone with advice) and “see & treat” (treating patients on scene without onward conveyance), greater integration with the rest of the health system and a focus on preventing some of the demand on emergency departments. The Ambulance Response Programme (ARP) is also exploring whether changes to the way that the ambulance service responds to calls could help improve patient outcomes, and help services better manage demand. We expect NHS England will make recommendations in spring 2017.NHS Improvement advises that a range of work is being undertaken to improve Trust handover times across the North West. NHS Improvement, alongside NHS England and Blackpool CCG (lead commissioner for NWAS) co-hosted a patient safety summit on hospital patient handover and ambulance turnaround before Christmas that brought together NWAS, local acute trusts and clinical commissioning groups to discuss current service pressures and to identify good practice and innovative schemes aimed at reducing the pressure on the ambulance service.NHS Improvement has regular Progress Review Meetings with NWAS which focus on performance, the identification of problem areas or Trusts and ways in which improvements can be made.North West Ambulance Service is participating in the ARP Dispatch on Disposition pilot.

Marie Stopes International

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take in response to the recent report published by the Care Quality Commission into the abuses and safety failures identified at Marie Stopes International clinics throughout the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood: Marie Stopes International (MSI) is continuing to take a range of actions to address the issues identified in the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) reports and the CQC has made clear that they will not hesitate to take further action, if necessary, in order to guarantee MSI meets the standard of care they expect and that its patients deserve. The Department continues to monitor the situation with particular regard being had to the statutory approval responsibilities of the Secretary of State.

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to respond to the finding of Public Health England in the Public Health Burden of Alcohol and the Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Alcohol Control Policies, published in December 2016, that increasing the price of alcohol products would save over a billion pounds a year over the next 20 years.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government will consider the evidence set out in the Public Health England Alcohol Evidence Review over the next few months. The introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing in England and Wales remains under review pending the outcome of the legal case between the Scotch Whisky Association and the Scottish Government, and the impact of the implementation of this policy in Scotland. The issue of taxation of alcohol is a matter for HM Treasury.

Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to phase out the practice of out-of-area placements across England, as recommended by the Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care.

Nicola Blackwood: The Government set a national ambition in April 2016 to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements (OAPs) for adult acute inpatient care by 2020/21. A bespoke data collection has been commissioned to capture details of OAPs in mental health services, and has been reporting data since December 2016. This collection was introduced in order to establish a reliable national baseline of OAPs, and understand where and why OAPs are happening. The collection will support the development of a clear national trajectory for reducing OAPs over the next four years, in order to achieve the ambition by 2020/21. NHS England and its arm’s length bodies are aligning levers and incentives across the system to ensure that the elimination of OAPs is reflected as a clear system-wide priority. NHS England plans to publish an evidence based treatment pathway for acute mental health care by the end of 2016/17, including clear response times, quality guidelines and benchmarks. The accompanying implementation guidance will support local service capacity assessment and improvement programmes. It will advocate whole-system and partnership working across housing, social care, and the voluntary sector. NHS England is investing more than £400 million over four years from 2017/18 in crisis resolution and home treatment teams to provide an alternative to admission when it is safe to do so, reducing pressure on inpatient capacity and supporting more people to access care locally and in a timely manner.

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on holding a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.

Nicola Blackwood: No discussions have been held with the Welsh Assembly Government on this matter. A letter has been received recently from the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport.

Ovarian Cancer

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the ovarian cancer-specific service specification submitted for approval by the Complex Gynaecological Services Clinical Reference Group in 2015.

David Mowat: In order for NHS England to formally consider a new or revised service specification, a number of associated reports and processes need to be completed. The Complex Gynaecological Services Clinical Reference Group (CRG) did start the process of developing a new service specification for ovarian cancer, however, it did not complete the process. The CRG encountered technical difficulties during the Impact Assessment stage including issues identifying activity and the associated financial impact. In the subsequent period, CRGs have been restructured and the responsibility for this clinical area now resides with the Specialised Cancer Surgery CRG, within the National Cancer Programme of Care. In addition, NHS England has also published a revised process for service specification development (titled: ‘Methods’), which can be found at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/key-docs/ The Methods sets out the process for completing service specification work and, in accordance with this process, the Specialised Cancer Surgery CRG has been asked to consider progressing this work. It is expected that the first step of the process will be completed by the end of February 2017.

Brentuximab Vedotin

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma patients will not receive stem cell transplants if brentuximab vedotin is removed as a standard of care.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department has made no such estimate. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising brentuximab for treating CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma and recently consulted on its draft guidance. NICE has not yet published final guidance. Brentuximab is currently available to National Health Service patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of trends in hospital admissions due to alcohol in the last 10 years; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such admissions.

Nicola Blackwood: Public Health England (PHE) published it’s alcohol evidence review, in December 2016, which included data on alcohol related hospital admissions. There are a range of actions underway to tackle alcohol harm, and which are aimed to prevent alcohol-related hospital admissions. These include:- a new national programme to incentivise screening and provide appropriate interventions to all in patients in National Health Service hospitals is being rolled out over the next two years;- many Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprint areas have used PHE’s menu of preventative interventions to guide their decisions on local action to reduce alcohol harm and hospital admissions; and- more widely, PHE’s One You campaign includes tools to help those people who want to reduce their consumption of alcohol, and the NHS health check continues to promote interventions to reduce harm and offer alcohol treatment for people who need help to recover from dependence.

Department of Health: Health Professions

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many registered health professionals were directly employed by his Department on 1 February (a) 2017 and (b) 2016; and how many such professionals in each of those years were in which profession.

David Mowat: This information is not held centrally.

Psychiatric Nurses: EU Nationals

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries currently working in the NHS as psychiatric nurses; what the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU would be on the number of such nurses; and what the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such nurses would be.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the National Health Service in England. Nationality is self-reported within the NHS human resources and payroll system, the electronic staff record.In October 2016, 977 (2.5%) psychiatric nurses working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups declared their nationality as other European Union nationals, excluding the United Kingdom. This is out of a total headcount of 38,332.The October data is the most recent data available.The potential effect on nationals and productivity of leaving the EU will be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. It is the Government’s aim to get the best settlement for the UK in all areas including the healthcare system.

Mental Illness: Prisoners

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) male and (ii) female prisoners who have a personality disorder.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Social Services: Surrey

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether there is a memorandum of understanding between the Government and Surrey County Council on social care funding.

David Mowat: No, there is no ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ between the Government and Surrey County Council.

Prisoners: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62839, how many people waited more than 28 days for a transfer to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each quarter since quarter one of 2015-16.

Nicola Blackwood: The data requested is not held in the format requested.

Emergency Services: Prisons

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many blue code emergencies there were in prisons in England in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Suicide: Prisons

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many self-inflicted deaths there were of former prisoners in England within 14 days of their release in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Hospital Beds

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of hospital beds taken up because of delayed transfers of care in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

David Mowat: The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes data on the number of patients occupying National Health Service hospital beds on the last Thursday of each month who were ready to return home or transfer to another form of care. This data is shown by the agency responsible. The latest data is for December 2016 and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/delayed-transfers-of-care/

Brentuximab Vedotin

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma receive brentuximab vedotin through the NHS.

Nicola Blackwood: The number of people who received brentuximab vedotin through the National Health Service is not collected centrally.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Mr Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NICE plans to report on the availability of FreeStyle Libre on the NHS.

Nicola Blackwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a medtech innovation briefing (MIB) on FreeStyle Libre which it expects to publish in May 2017. NICE MIBs provide information on device and diagnostic technologies to aid local decision-making by clinicians, managers and procurement professionals. They contain no judgement on the value of the technology and they do not contain a recommendation from NICE.

Preventive Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what procedures are in place to ensure that clinical commissioning groups fund preventative medicines in accordance with NICE guidelines.

Nicola Blackwood: National Health Service commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance, including preventative medicines. NICE guidelines represent best practice, are based on the available evidence, and are developed through wide consultation. As best practice, NHS organisations should take them into account in the care and treatment of patients, but they are not associated with the funding requirement that applies to NICE technology appraisals.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of progress with and the effectiveness of the Sustainability Transformation Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the amount from the Sustainability Transformation Fund that has been diverted to pay down NHS Trust deficits since that fund was established.

Mr Philip Dunne: The £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund (STF) has been created to help improve National Health Service trusts’ financial position and incentivise improved efficiency and performance management. All payments from the fund will benefit trusts’ bottom line. Results so far have been very encouraging. 227 trusts (95%) have signed up to the finance and performance criteria to allow for eligibility to the fund. At the end of Quarter 2, 196 trusts (82%) have met the finance criteria, and 152 (64%) met STF performance targets. And as a result, a total of £690 million has been paid out so far this year to trusts.

Health Visitors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of children receive an assessment of their development by health visitors (a) after birth, (b) at six to eight weeks, (c) at one year old and (d) between two and two and a half years old in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each local authority.

Nicola Blackwood: This information is not available in the requested format. Information available from the Health Visitors Service Delivery Metrics can be found at:http://www.chimat.org.uk/transfer

Health: Children

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the amount of funding spent by (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) local authorities on supporting children and families in the early years in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each local authority.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department allocated funding of over £8 billion to local authorities from 2013/14 to 2015/16. It is not possible to provide a break-down of the estimated spend by local authorities and clinical commissioning groups on early years support for children and families for the last year in each region of England.2015-16 data for individual local authorities can be viewed on the National Statistics website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2015-to-2016-individual-local-authority-data-outturn

Pregnancy: Depressive Illnesses

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of perinatal depression there have been recorded in each (a) region and (b) clinical commissioning group area in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: The information is not collected in the requested format. It is important to note that perinatal mental illness includes a range of conditions, including antenatal depression, postnatal depression, maternal obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and postpartum psychosis.NHS Digital has started to publish monthly experimental statistics collected via the Mental Health Dataset (MHDS) which include basic caseload measures for community based specialist perinatal mental health services.NHS Digital is working with system partners to further develop perinatal mental health metrics for the MHDS collection.

Care Homes: Disclosure of Information

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will create a single database for incident reporting in care homes; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: In spring 2017 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will publish a consultation looking at how they regulate adult social care and primary medical services. As part of their role in regulating care services CQC inspect providers. On 1 October 2014 CQC began using a new approach to inspect and regulate adult social care services, placing people who use services at the centre of this work. CQC uses a range of information to decide when, where and what to inspect, the methods for listening better to people's experiences of care and using the best information across the system. During an inspection inspectors will use their professional judgement, supported by objective measures and evidence, to assess services against five key questions: are they safe? Are they effective? Are they caring? Are they responsive to people's needs? Are they well-led? An inspection will include the systems care homes have in place to report, monitor and manage incidents. Inspectors will talk to people who use the services to identify any safeguarding concerns. CQC rate the services and publish the final inspection report on their website, this includes any safeguarding concerns. The ratings help people to compare services and to highlight where care is outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

Prescriptions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2016 to Question 49671, the Answer of 31 October 2016 to Question 50008 and the Answer of 8 November 2016 to Question 51652, what the role is of NHS England in ensuring that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are fulfilling their statutory role when changing local policy or local guidelines related to access to medical nutrition; what mechanisms are in place to ensure that when CCGs do not follow NICE guidance there is a clear clinical case for not doing so; and what oversight NHS England has in making sure that CCG decisions are consistent with NICE and NHS England guidance on commissioning.

David Mowat: NHS England has a statutory duty to carry out an annual performance assessment of each clinical commissioning group (CCG) and in 2016/17 it has introduced the CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework.The Framework assesses CCGs against a range of indicators which consider their financial performance, delivery of commitments, improved health outcomes for their populations and whether they are well led organisations. This provides assurance that CCGs are well led, effective commissioning organisations. There is also a strong focus on improvement and, where necessary, NHS England is supported by legislation in exercising formal powers of direction if it is satisfied that a CCG is failing or is at risk of failing to discharge its functions. CCGs should pay regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Guidelines and Quality Standards, when planning and delivering services, as part of their general duty to secure a continuous improvement in quality. However, while England does have a duty of regard in relation to quality standards prepared by NICE, these are not mandatory. CCGs cannot ignore NICE guidance without having a clear clinical case for doing so, as they are based on the best available evidence. In the event of this happening there would have to be a clear documented rationale signed off through CCG governance.

Cancer: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how long patients in Wolverhampton waited on average to start treatment following diagnosis for (a) lung cancer, (b) breast cancer, (c) cervical cancer, (d) ovarian cancer, (e) prostate cancer, (f) testicular cancer, (g) pancreatic cancer, (h) head and neck cancers, (i) leukaemia, (j) bowel cancer, (k) kidney cancer, (l) colon cancer, (m) GIST cancers, (n) stomach cancer, (o) liver cancer, (p) melanoma, (q) non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and (r) myeloma in each year since 1997; what the average (i) one, (ii) five and (iii) 10 year age-standardised net survival rate for each of those cancers was in each year since 1997; and what proportion of people with each of those cancers was diagnosed at stage (A) 1, (B) 2, (C) 3 and (D) 4 in each year since 1997.

David Mowat: Data are not available in the format requested. Data is published by NHS England on the proportion of patients who received treatment within 62 days of referral by provider for six tumour types: breast, lower gastrointestinal, lung, other, skin, and urological (excluding testicular). These data can be found at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/monthly-prov-cwt/ Staging data is published by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service for 13 tumour types: bladder, breast, oesophagus, stomach, colorectal, pancreas, kidney, lung, melanoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian, uterine, and prostate. These data can be found at:http://www.ncin.org.uk/publications/survival_by_stage Data on one and five year survival rates for 16 tumour types are provided in Table 1. These data are not published at provider level.



PQ63971
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NHS: Drugs

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many technology appraisals NICE has undertaken for medicines granted accelerated approval by the European Medicines Agency due to high unmet medical needs; and what the NICE recommendation was for each of those appraisals.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not held centrally.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust: Dental Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many extractions of multiple teeth for children under the age of 18 in University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust took place in each of the last five years; what the cost of such extractions was in each such year; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: We do not hold information on the cost or the number of children under 18 that have had multiple teeth extractions in University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

Medical Treatments

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many technology appraisals NICE has undertaken where phase three clinical trial data has been absent or incomplete.

Nicola Blackwood: The information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

NHS: Cleaning Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries working in the NHS as cleaners; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the number of such cleaners; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such cleaners.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is not collected centrally. Data is collected annually in the Estates Return Information Collection from the National Health Service on the total number of cleaning staff in the NHS including both directly employed and contracted out staff. However, data on the nationality of cleaners is not collected. The potential effect on nationals and productivity of leaving the European Union will be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. It is the Government’s aim to get the best settlement for the United Kingdom in all areas including the healthcare system.

Health Visitors: Migrant Workers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries working in the NHS as health visitors; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the number of such health visitors; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such health visitors.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries working in the NHS as nurses; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the number of such nurses; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such nurses.

Mr Philip Dunne: Health visitors are often included as nurses in workforce statistics; therefore for clarity we have provided a breakdown of nurses and health visitors, nurses excluding health visitors and health visitors only.NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the National Health Service in England. Nationality is self-reported within the NHS human resources and payroll system, the electronic staff record.The following table shows the total headcount of nurses and health visitors working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in October 2016, and the number that declared their nationality as other European Union nationals, excluding the United Kingdom.  Headcount Qualified nurses and health visitors321,085of which:EU nationals22,394Qualified nurses excluding health visitors310,006of which:EU nationals22,181Health visitors11,180of which:EU nationals215 The October data is the most recent data available.The potential effect on nationals and productivity of leaving the EU will be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. It is the Government’s aim to get the best settlement for the UK in all areas including the healthcare system.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the level of cervical screening uptake is in Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group; what steps his Department is taking to increase cervical screening uptake among women in Wolverhampton; and if he will make a statement.

David Mowat: Cervical screening data is provided at local authority level and is published by Public Health England (PHE). The percentage of women in the resident population of Wolverhampton who are eligible for cervical screening who were screened adequately within the previous 3.5 years or 5.5 years according to age (3.5 years for women aged 25-49 and 5.5 years for women aged 50-64) on 31 March is 68.1%. Cervical screening is commissioned by NHS England and is based upon a national service specification developed by PHE. NHS England closely monitors the coverage rates for cervical screening in all age groups and is committed to improving coverage and reducing variation between all age groups. In Wolverhampton, NHS England is working with local sexual health services to improve access for women who wish to access the cervical screening programme outside of general practice. PHE and NHS England are also working with general practices with lowest levels of uptake to understand barriers and mechanisms for improvement. The human papillomavirus (HPV) adolescent vaccination programme for girls is well established in the United Kingdom and is expected to have a significant impact on reducing cervical cancer. Since the start of the programme in 2008, more than 8.5 million doses of the HPV vaccine have been given in the UK, with close to 90% of eligible teenagers vaccinated.

Health Services: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what costs have been (a) incurred and (b) committed for future periods for the development and management of the sustainability and transformation plan process for Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group.

David Mowat: Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is part of the Black Country Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). The majority of work to date on the STP has been managed through existing staff resources of partner organisations, with a small element of external support being funded from management resources.Partner organisations are contributing to support multiple programmes and work streams set out in the plan, and staff are working on the STP in addition to their other management roles. As a result, the total cost of developing the STP to date is not held centrally. Plans are currently being drafted outlining the resources and financial commitment needed by the CCG for the development and management of the Black Country STP for the forthcoming financial year.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to emotional and psychological support for people with muscle-wasting conditions.

David Mowat: NHS England commissions specialised neurological services at a national level, including for those with muscle-wasting conditions. The neurosciences service specification sets out what specialised providers must have in place to offer evidence based safe and effective care. As part of the service, patients should have access to a multidisciplinary team to assess, diagnose and provide support. The team will include a range of specialist staff including neuromuscular consultants, neuromuscular physiotherapists, psychologists, specialist nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other health professionals. Neuromuscular clinics should provide access to psychological and emotional support for children and adults and develop expertise with a practitioner experienced in the specific challenges for neuromuscular patients. The specification can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf

Blood: Contamination

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that the current scheme administrators are given further government financial support in the event that the new Infected Blood Scheme Administrator is not in position by April 2017.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has received a request for further funding from the (a) Macfarlane Trust and (b) Caxton Foundation infected blood scheme administrators beyond the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Nicola Blackwood: The five existing support schemes (Skipton Fund Ltd, MFET Ltd, Macfarlane Trust, Eileen Trust and Caxton Foundation) will remain in place and be able to make payments to its beneficiaries, until the new scheme administrator is in place.

Psychiatry: Migrant Workers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries working in the NHS as psychiatrists; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the number of such psychiatrists; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such psychiatrists.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the National Health Service in England. Nationality is self-reported within the NHS human resources and payroll system, the electronic staff record.In October 2016, 911 (9.5%) doctors working in the psychiatry group within NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups declared their nationality as other European Union nationals, excluding the United Kingdom. This is out of a total headcount of 9,544.The October data is the most recent data available.The potential effect on nationals and productivity of leaving the EU will be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. It is the Government’s aim to get the best settlement for the UK in all areas including the healthcare system.

Midwives: Migrant Workers

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of other EU countries working in the NHS as midwives; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the number of such midwives; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on NHS productivity of that change in the number of such midwives.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Digital publishes data on the nationality of staff working in the National Health Service in England. Nationality is self-reported within the NHS human resources and payroll system, the electronic staff record.In October 2016, 1,363 (5.2%) midwives working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups declared their nationality as other European Union nationals, excluding the United Kingdom. This is out of a total headcount of 26,099.The October data is the most recent data available.The potential effect on nationals and productivity of leaving the EU will be dependent on the outcome of negotiations. The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living here. It is the Government’s aim to get the best settlement for the UK in all areas including the healthcare system.

Cancer: Drugs

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the length of time that data is collected on the evaluation of treatment funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Nicola Blackwood: NHS England has advised that cancer drugs that are assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as having both key clinical uncertainties and plausible cost effectiveness can enter the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) for evaluation with a view to future NICE re-appraisal once there is sufficient data from continuing clinical trials and/or data collection in the CDF. The duration in the CDF for a cancer drug is determined on an individual basis by the time required for such data development/collection to take place. This will depend on the disease concerned, the data that needs to be examined, the clinical trials that may be already running, and considerations of cancer treatment pathways in England. The time that a drug stays in the CDF is therefore individually assessed and agreed with NHS England, NICE and the company concerned.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all documents produced by NHS Improvement on accident and emergency waiting times in January 2017.

Mr Philip Dunne: The official source of accident and emergency waiting times data is published on a monthly basis by NHS England and the latest official statistics are for December 2016 – these were published on 9 February 2017. Official data for January 2017 will be published on 9 March 2017. These are the only official statistics collected nationally on accident and emergency waiting times. In addition to this NHS England also publishes weekly data over winter via the winter situation reports. In 2016/17, these data are collected by NHS Improvement. Any additional data collected by NHS Improvement is for operational purposes with a rapid turnaround, and does not undergo the validation and quality assurance processes which are required for official statistics.

Social Services: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £900 million extra funding announced by the Government for social care on 15 December 2016 will be received by St Helens Council.

David Mowat: As part of the measures announced in the Local Government Finance Settlement St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council will have access to an additional £2 million from the Social Care Precept and £1 million from the Adult Social Care Support Grant between 2017/18 and 2018/19. St Helens will also have access to £5.4 million from the Improved Better Care Fund over this same period.

General Practitioners: Finance

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding has been provided from the public purse to GP practices in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) UK in each of the last 10 years.

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average amount of funding from the public purse provided to GP practices was in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each of the last 10 years.

David Mowat: The information is not available in the requested format. The available information is contained in the following tables. National Health Service Payments to General Practice for St Helens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Merseyside Area Team and England, by year for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 Total Payments to PracticesSt Helens CCGMerseyside Area TeamEngland2013/14£24,721,680£179,446,697£7,631,679,9462014/15£28,363,301£187,967,794£7,990,324,1602015/16£28,244,380£188,164,084£8,182,561,838  Average Payments to PracticesSt Helens CCGMerseyside Area TeamEngland2013/14£668,154£760,367£946,8592014/15£766,576£796,474£1,003,9362015/16£784,566£811,052£1,043,561Source: NHS Digital

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether women in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are tested for TB, HIV and malaria on arrival from (a) West Africa, (b) East Africa, (c) South Africa and (d) South-East Asia.

Nicola Blackwood: Healthcare in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) is commissioned by NHS England. Testing for infectious diseases among new entrants to IRCs, including Yarl’s Wood, is guided by advice from Public Health England and, where applicable, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. New entrants to all IRCs have a symptom-based questionnaire at first reception screening where healthcare staff ascertain whether patients have either signs or symptoms of tuberculosis (TB) or past history of infection or recent contact with someone with TB. Since 2014, IRCs are advised to offer testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C to new entrants as part of an ‘opt-out programme’ for blood-borne virus testing promoted by Public Health England, NHS England and the Home Office through the National Partnership Agreement. Testing for malaria is usually done following presentation of symptoms consistent with malaria in someone with a history of travel from endemic countries and is not done routinely on asymptomatic patients.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

EURATOM

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of leaving the European Atomic Energy Community on projects that require the co-operation of American nuclear energy companies.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 02 February 2017



Withdrawal from the Euratom Treaty will not diminish the UK's nuclear ambitions for its new build nuclear programme, and the Government remains committed to delivering a world leading nuclear programme in close collaboration with international counterparts, including the USA.Non EU countries that have a relationship with Euratom do so mainly through international nuclear cooperation agreements (NCA) with the Euratom Community. These provide frameworks for cooperation in the civil nuclear sector, but are not an absolute requirement for trade in civil nuclear material or goods with every country, and in many cases trade continues without being covered by an NCA.We will maintain continuity of cooperation and develop new arrangements as necessary.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when in Spring 2017 he plans to implement the changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Renewable Heat Incentive reforms will be implemented on the date the updated regulations for the scheme come into force. It is intended these changes will be implemented in spring 2017; the specific date is not known as yet, as it is subject to Parliamentary processes.

Ombudsman Services

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Consumer Ombudsman regime.

Margot James: The Consumer Ombudsman is run by Ombudsman Services, a not for profit private sector company. Chartered Trading Standards Institute, who act on behalf of my rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, have audited and approved Ombudsman Services as being compliant with the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Regulations.The Government is committed to an ADR landscape that works for all those who wish to use it. I meet regularly with consumer representatives and enforcement bodies to discuss a range of issues, including ADR.A number of detailed responses to a call for evidence in June were received that related to the ADR regime. The Department is considering these responses carefully and a response will be published in due course.

Erasmus: Foreign Students

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62717, how many UK students in each (a) region and (b) local authority have participated in the Erasmus Scheme in the last 10 years.

Joseph Johnson: Erasmus data is held at institutional, rather than regional or local authority level. The table attached gives the numbers for each institution for academic years 2007/08 to 2013/14, grouped by UK region and nation. Data for the previous two years is not available; data for 2014/15 is not yet available.



Erasmus students by region and institution 2007-14
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Qualifications: EU Law

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that the provisions of Directive 89/48/EEC relating to professional qualifications are retained in UK law when the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and ensure a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK. The Bill will convert existing European Union law into domestic law, wherever practical.The Government will set out the content of the Bill and its implications in due course.

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received about energy price rises in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: BEIS Ministers and officials received a number of representations on a range of issues in the last 12 months.We are disappointed by the announcements of some companies of price rises when customers on standard variable tariffs are already paying more than they need to. We expect energy supply companies to treat all their customers fairly and have made it clear that, wherever markets are not working for consumers, there can be a role for Government in ensuring that they do.

Green Investment Bank: Sales

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to put in place any measures to prevent asset stripping or other abuses by companies which purchase Green Investment Bank assets.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government takes into account the track record of companies interested in purchasing Green Investment Bank assets when deciding whether to permit a sale to go ahead.

Mr Nick Hurd: In its “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” report laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016, the Government set out its objectives for the sale and the process by which the sale would be conducted. Bids have been evaluated at each stage of the process against the Government’s sale objectives.The Green Investment Bank (GIB) is being sold as a going concern and potential investors will be buying into the company’s green business plan and forward pipeline of projects. The Government has asked potential investors to confirm their commitment to GIB’s green values and investment principles and how they propose to protect them, as part of their bids for the company.In addition to this, to protect GIB’s green purposes in future, GIB has created a special share, held by an independent company with the right to approve or reject any changes to GIB’s green purposes should such a change ever be proposed.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2017 to Question 62603, what the number of security passes issued by his Department to people not employed by his Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Margot James: The Department does not provide specific details of the security measures it has in place to protect staff and visitors. It issues passes to civil servants, visitors, and to contractors undertaking work for the Department. These passes are issued taking into account both business and security needs.

Post Offices

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish the Government's response to the consultation on the post office network which closed on 21 December 2016.

Margot James: The recent consultation on the Post Office network received over 31,000 responses. This compares with 2,500 responses to the last consultation in 2007. The Government is reviewing the detailed issues raised in these responses and expects to be in a position to publish a response in due course.

Furs: Labelling

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU regulations on the labelling of animal fur on consumer protection; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: The EU legislation Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 – on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products, ensures consumers are properly protected when purchasing textile products containing ‘non-textile parts of animal origin’, including fur.This requires these products to have the phrase ‘contains non-textile parts of animal origin’ on the labelling or marking of the product. The regulation stipulates that the presence of non-textile parts of animal origin must be clearly labelled or marked in such a way that is not misleading and that the consumer can easily understand. This enables consumers to make an informed choice between textile products that contain non-textile parts of animal origin and those that don’t.The Regulation does not require a detailed description of particular materials or parts, but businesses are free to disclose more details about the materials used (e.g. cowhide, lambskin etc.) as long as this information is not false and misleading and consumers can make enquiries with the retailer as to what the non-textile parts of animal origin are.This year, the UK Government is undertaking a review of the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulation 2012/1102, which sets out the enforcement provisions that apply to Regulation 1007/2011. The UK is obliged to review the enforcement provisions by May 2017. A report will be laid before Parliament. The legislation is also regularly reviewed by the EU, most recently in 2013 when the Commission filed its report on Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011.The report is available on the EUR-Lex website:http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52013DC0656

Post Offices

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the continued financial viability of the Post Office network; and whether he plans to change the level of funding provided to that network.

Margot James: The Department regularly engages with the Post Office on issues affecting the network including on the levels of investment, its overall profitability and financial stability of the business. The Government expects the Post Office to continue to need funding beyond 2018, and we are currently working with Post Office Limited to evaluate its future strategy and establish appropriate funding levels.

Post Offices: Bank Services

Simon Hoare: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of use of Post Office branches for banking.

Margot James: The Government recognises the value of post offices to communities across the UK and understands that they are an important option for customers and small businesses to access a range of financial, mails and Government services. The Post Office estimates that it processed over 110 million banking transactions last year - a six per cent increase on the previous year. Last month, a new industry wide agreement between the Post Office and UK banks came into effect which means that 99 per cent of UK personal bank customers and over 75 per cent of business customers are now able to do their day-to-day banking at the Post Office.

EURATOM: Membership

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2016 to Question 47517, whether the Government has completed an assessment of the legal and policy implications of the UK's membership of Euratom.

Jesse Norman: The Government has been assessing the legal and policy implications of leaving the EU, including the UK’s membership of Euratom.The UK remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry, and will aim for continuity of the co-operation and standards enjoyed under Euratom membership.

Green Investment Bank

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of projects for which the Green Investment Bank will provide funding in the first 12 months after its sale to the Government's preferred bidder.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Green Investment Bank is being sold as a going concern and potential investors will be buying into the company’s green business plan and forward pipeline of projects.

High Level Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the names are of the members of the High Level Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation; how regularly that group meets; and what that group's terms of reference are.

Joseph Johnson: The Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation had its first meeting on 14 December 2016. Membership of the Group includes representatives from Higher Education, Research and Innovation funders, National Academies, Learned Societies and Business. The full membership and the terms of reference will be published on Gov.uk shortly.

Carbon Emissions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to publish its Emissions Reduction Plan.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to publish a new emissions reduction plan.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plan to publish its strategy on climate change.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s intention is to publish the emissions reduction plan as early on in 2017 as possible in order to move on to the delivery stage. The plan will set out how to reduce emissions through the 2020s and send an important signal to the markets, businesses and investors.

Ministry of Defence

Torture: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to respond to the recent allegations of torture in Northern Ireland in the 1970s by army personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: It is for the civil police to decide whether to take any action on the basis of these allegations.

Tanks: Logistics

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of current availability of tank transporters for the armed forces.

Harriett Baldwin: Heavy Equipment Tank Transporter (HET) capability is provided through a Private Finance Initiative project with Fasttrax (a joint venture company). The initiative provides the Ministry of Defence with 89 HET trains (tractor units and trailers) on pre-defined levels of availability.We do not routinely comment on the specific availability of equipment as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Military Decorations: Northern Ireland

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make provisions to allow military personnel who have served in Northern Ireland as part of Operation Helvetic to receive operational service medals, where merited.

Mike Penning: There are currently in excess of 4,000 UK Service personnel deployed on operations throughout the world. Each of these operations is kept under constant review and when appropriate, a recommendation for medallic recognition is made to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals for their consideration.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to raise the minimum age of enlistment into the armed forces to 18 years of age.

Mike Penning: The Armed Forces have no plans to raise the minimum age of recruitment. All recruitment into the UK military is voluntary and no young person under the age of 18 years may join our Armed Forces unless their application is accompanied by the formal written consent of their parent or guardian. We take the duty of care towards all recruits seriously, in particular those under 18 years of age. We have robust, effective and independently verified safeguards in place to ensure that under-18s are cared for properly.Our policies on under-18s in Service comply with national and international law. In addition to the comprehensive welfare system that is in place for all Service personnel we remain fully committed to meeting our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and have taken steps to bestow special safeguards on young people under the age of 18.The provision of education and training for 16-year-old school leavers provides a route into the Armed Forces that complies with Government education policy and offers a significant foundation for emotional, physical and educational development throughout an individual's career. All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled in apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK's largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an apprenticeship each year. The Armed Forces offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology, construction, driving, and animal care. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.Our policy on under-18s is published in Part 1 of Joint Service Publication 822, "Defence direction and guidance for training and education", available at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-822-governance-and-management-of-defence-individual-training-education-and-skills

Afghanistan: Armed Forces

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which date his Department has identified for the total withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan.

Mike Penning: We have a long term commitment to Afghanistan, including through our security and development assistance. Our Armed Forces are committed to assisting the Afghan Government and we will continue to stand together with our Afghan and NATO partners to build a more peaceful, secure and prosperous future for the country.Although our combat mission has ended, the support the UK provides on issues such as security, development and governance is crucial to building a stable state and reducing the terrorist threat to the UK. Supporting the development of the Afghan security forces ensures that they are capable of preventing terrorists gaining a safe haven in Afghanistan, and preserves the hard fought gains the UK and the international community have achieved in Afghanistan.The UK regularly reviews its commitment and will consider all options to uphold our commitment to the NATO Resolute Support mission.

Army Reserve

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Army Reserve's Order of Battle.

Mark Lancaster: A copy of the Army Reserve Order of Battle has been placed in the Library of the House and is attached.



Army 2020 Reserves  Order of Battle
(Word Document, 98 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2017 to Question 62604, what the number of security passes issued by his Department to people not employed by his Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Mark Lancaster: The information on numbers of security passes issued is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The business need would vary depending on the requirement the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has for that individual to enter an MOD establishment. In all cases, security passes are only issued to individuals who have been sponsored by a Department employee. Sponsors are also required to confirm that the issue is for an MOD business need. Individuals must provide proof of security clearance and/or proof of identity. Individuals who are not security cleared are always escorted by a Department employee.

Libya: Military Intervention

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) UK military operations in Libya between 1 March and 31 August 2011, (b) the personnel deployed during those operations, (c) the ordinance deployed during those operations and (d) the fuel used during those operations.

Mike Penning: The costs of military operations are compiled in terms of the net additional costs incurred, which are defined as those which the Department would not have incurred had the operation not taken place. The costs of Op ELLAMY were £21 million in Financial Year 2010-11 and £213 million in Financial Year 2011-12. The total includes £5 million for personnel costs and £114 million for the non-cash cost of weapons expended. In addition, £52 million was allocated for the replenishment of weapons expended in Financial Year 2011-12 and Financial Year 2012-13. Costs of fuel are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Councillors

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the proportion of local councillors who are (a) women and (b) black, Asian or minority ethnic; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: My department does not hold this information.

Rents: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average weekly rent in (a) social and (b) private sector rented housing in Warrington; and what proportion of the average weekly income in the borough each of those figures represent.

Gavin Barwell: In 2010-11 there was a large scale voluntary transfer of local authority owned social housing to private registered providers in Warrington. Average rents for private registered providers in Warrington are available in live table 704:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenanciesThe Valuation Office Agency private rental market statistics provides average private monthly rents by local authority in England available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/private-rental-market-statistics-may-2016Estimates of average incomes are produce by the Office for National Statistics and are available in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2016provisionalresults

Social Services: Surrey County Council

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the details of any memorandum of understanding between his Department and Surrey County Council in relation to funding for social care; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: As part of the statutory draft Local Government Finance Settlement consultation, the Department for Communities and Local Government discusses local government funding with councils across the country, of all types and all political colours. This happens every year, and necessarily involves councils making direct representations to the Government.DCLG will publish the final settlement later this month, and the House of Commons will then vote on it. This is entirely transparent, and detailed funding figures for every council are published as part of that process.Whilst the final settlement has yet to be approved, the Government is not proposing extra funding to Surrey County Council that is not otherwise provided or offered to other councils generally. There is no ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ between Government and Surrey County Council.

Social Services: Surrey

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether there is a memorandum of understanding between the Government and Surrey County Council regarding the funding of social care.

Mr Marcus Jones: No.

Social Services: Surrey County Council

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish all written or electronic correspondence between ministers and officials in his Department and Surrey County Council on social care funding and the council's proposed referendum on that subject.

Mr Marcus Jones: As part of the statutory draft Local Government Finance Settlement consultation, the Department for Communities and Local Government discusses local government funding with councils across the country, of all types and all political colours. This happens every year, and necessarily involves councils making direct representations to the Government.DCLG will publish the final settlement later this month, and the House of Commons will then vote on it. This is entirely transparent, and detailed funding figures for every council are published as part of that process.Whilst the final settlement has yet to be approved, the Government is not proposing extra funding to Surrey County Council that is not otherwise provided or offered to other councils generally. There is no ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ between Government and Surrey County Council.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes: Greater London

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many deposits of tenants in London were protected by the Government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme in each year since 2011.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes: Greater London

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many deposits of tenants in London were (a) submitted and (b) returned under the Government-accredited tenancy deposit protection scheme in each year since 2011.

Gavin Barwell: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HM Treasury

Personal Pensions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a cap on early exit charges for people over the age of 55 seeking to transfer their personal pensions.

Simon Kirby: People who have saved responsibly should be able to access their pensions fairly; they should not face prohibitive charges that block them from exiting their current deal.That is why the government placed a duty on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cap excessive early exit charges and the Department for Work and Pensions is taking similar steps for occupational pension schemes.The FCA rules to discharge this duty will come into effect from 31 March 2017, and as a result early exit charges:• will be capped at 1% of the value of a member’s benefits being taken, converted or transferred from a scheme;• cannot be increased in existing schemes that currently have early exit charges set at less than 1% of the member’s benefits under a scheme; and• cannot apply in schemes entered into after the proposed new rules come into force.

Living Wage: Enforcement

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers have been convicted of paying staff less than the national living wage since its introduction.

Jane Ellison: The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) receives them. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW or NLW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue and Customs reviews all complaints that are referred to them. The offences under which employers can be prosecuted cover all rates of NMW and NLW; therefore records do not differentiate between them. I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN HL4264 for details of prosecutions to date.

Universal Credit

Debbie Abrahams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit recipients have been naturally migrated onto universal credit since March 2016.

Mr David Gauke: Since March 2016, 52,660 tax credits recipients have naturally migrated onto Universal Credit.

Small Businesses: Corporation Tax

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses made use of the corporation tax rate for small companies in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: The number of businesses making use of the corporation tax rate for small companies are as follows: 2013-14: 1,026,487 used the Small profits rate52,138 used the Marginal small profits rate 2014-15: 1,145,954 used the Small profits rate58,799 used the Marginal small profits rate This information is available in Table 11.3 of the Corporation Tax National Statistics publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547344/table11-3_Aug16.pdf.

Employee Ownership: Tax Allowances

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) people and (b) businesses received national insurance contributions relief for share incentive plans in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: The number of people receiving national insurance contributions (NIC) relief through share incentive plans (SIP) in 2013-14 is not available. The number of businesses receiving NIC relief through SIP in 2013-14 is estimated to be 500. Latest statistics on SIP schemes can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/share-incentive-plan.

Tonnage Tax

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses had their profits charged to tonnage tax in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: In 2013-14, 85 groups had their profits charged to Tonnage Tax. Data is presented at a group level as companies elect into the Tonnage Tax scheme as a group of companies. 2014-15 data is currently unavailable and will only be made available from Autumn 2017.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees at (a) Bradford Centenary Court, (b) Bradford The Interchange, (c) Grimsby Imperial House, (d) Harrogate Victoria Avenue, (e) Hull Cherry Court, (f) Leeds Munroe Court, (g) Leeds Castle House, (h) Leeds Peter Bennett House (i) Leeds Windsor House, (j) Sheffield Concept House, (k) Shipley Accounts Office and (l) York Swindon House have (i) left or (ii) signalled their intention to leave the employment of HM Revenue and Customs as a result of the estate transformation programme.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) gathers information about who is within reasonable daily travel of the regional centres through one-to-one meetings which take place about a year before office closure. HMRC is committed to retaining all staff who can travel to another office where there is a skills match or that can be achieved through retraining, if that is right for the individual and the business. It aims to keep the number of exits to a minimum, but will fully support staff who leave the department.Except for Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, the offices listed are not due to close until 2019/20 or 2020/21, and so one-to-one meetings have not yet taken place.17 people based at Harrogate have left HMRC employment; 15 left on Voluntary Exit terms on 31 October 2016 and two left on Voluntary Redundancy Terms on 21 December 2016.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Kerry McCarthy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs assessed the effect of introducing its Making Tax Digital proposals on (a) freelance workers in the creative industries and (b) other specific sectors as part of its recent impact assessment of the net cost to businesses of implementing those proposals.

Jane Ellison: The Government published an updated impact assessment on 31 January alongside its response to the Making Tax Digital consultations. HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) assessment estimated the impacts averaged across the entire unincorporated business population, using established models, consultation feedback, stakeholder engagement and internal insight. The consultation Bringing Business Tax into the Digital Age asked a number of questions about the impact on specific businesses, and received helpful responses. HMRC will carry out live testing starting with small numbers of businesses in April 2017, building up to several hundred thousand by 2018. The evidence collected through this exercise will help HMRC to better understand the impact on various sectors.

Social Services: Surrey County Council

Gareth Thomas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the details of any memorandum of understanding between his Department and Surrey County Council in relation to funding for social care; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government published a written ministerial statement on this matter on 9 February 2017.

Money Advice Service

Johnny Mercer: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.10 of the Government's response to the independent review of the Money Advice Service, published in March 2015, when his Department plans to publish the terms of reference for an in-depth review of the impacts of additional statutory consumer protections.

Simon Kirby: The government response to the Independent Review of the Money Advice Service was published by the coalition government. This government shares the view that it is essential to ensure the right options and incentives are available to consumers to help them deal with their debts. The government is considering in detail the impacts of additional statutory consumer protections, ensuring that any potential changes would fit well with the formal and informal debt solutions currently available to consumers. For example, the government has committed to exploring whether some form of ‘breathing space’, a statutory period of protection from repayment and enforcement action, would be a useful and viable addition to the current range debt solutions available to consumers and creditors. Work is continuing on this review, and the government plans to report back shortly.

Children: Day Care

Ian Austin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what framework his Department plans to use to evaluate the roll-out of tax-free-childcare and its effect on (a) parental employment, (b) childcare prices and (c) quality of childcare.

Mr David Gauke: Once Tax-Free Childcare is fully rolled out, the government will review its operation to ensure it is delivering as intended and to assess the benefit it is delivering for working families.

Equity Release

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with financial services providers on the potential role of equity release in helping to meet challenges posed by an ageing population.

Simon Kirby: Treasury ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

EU Grants and Loans

Mr Clive Betts: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what mechanism has been put in place to assess whether the Government will guarantee funding for specific ESF and ERDF projects signed after the Autumn Statement; how such projects will be assessed against the two criteria of value for money and alignment with domestic priorities; and whether such assessments will be undertaken before or after agreements have been signed.

Mr David Gauke: Each government department will take responsibility for the allocation of money to projects in line with the stated criteria and the wider rules on public spending. These conditions will be applied in such a way that the current pipeline of committed projects is not disrupted.

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Markets and Competition Authority on the introduction of a cap on overdraft charges for personal current accounts; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Kirby: Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to discuss relevant regulatory issues. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to provide details of all such discussions. The government is committed to increasing competition in banking and welcomes the CMA’s final report on its retail banking market investigation as an important step towards the goal of a highly competitive banking system. It is the CMA’s role to review the market, assess how effectively competition is working and, where appropriate, propose remedies to address any issues. That is why we set up the CMA as a single, stronger and independent competition regulator. The CMA proposed a series of remedies in its final report to improve overdraft transparency, including requiring banks to set a monthly maximum charge for unarranged overdraft charges. The government welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) response to the CMA’s investigation. In its response, the FCA committed to look in more detail at overdrafts from both a consumer and competition perspective, as part of its broader review of the high-cost credit market.

Entrepreneurs' Relief

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received capital gains tax relief for entrepreneurs' qualifying business disposals in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) people and (b) businesses received the annual exempt amount of capital gains tax in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) people and (b) businesses received capital gains tax relief on investments in enterprise investment schemes in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: The number of people or businesses receiving the annual exempt amount against capital gains tax is not available, nor are the number of people or businesses receiving capital gains tax relief on investments in enterprise investment schemes. I refer the honourable lady to the answer given to a previous question at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-01-23/61243 The number of people receiving capital gains tax relief for entrepreneurs' qualifying business disposals in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/numbers-of-claimants-of-entrepreneurs-relief-and-amounts-of-gain-by-year

Inheritance Tax

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received inheritance tax relief for business relief including unlisted shares in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received inheritance tax relief for estates exempt of transfers to charities on death in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received inheritance tax exemption of transfers on death to surviving spouses in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received inheritance tax relief for estates left on death with conditional exemption for heritage property in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received inheritance tax relief for agricultural property in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: Latest statistics on inheritance tax exemptions and reliefs claimed by estates in 2013-14 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-statistics-table-122-exemptions-and-reliefs This publication contains information on how many estates claimed inheritance tax relief on transfers to charities on death (PQ02515), transfers to surviving spouses on death (PQ02519), conditional exemptions for heritage property (PQ02521), business property including unlisted shares (PQ02525) and agricultural property (PQ02526). Data for 2014-15 is not currently available.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury plans to reply to the letter and email he received from the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden on 23 January 2017 on flaws in his Department's analysis of the impact of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Head of the Civil Service plans to reply to the letter and email he received from the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden on 23 January 2017 on flaws in HM Treasury's analysis of the impact of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Head of the Government Economic Service plans to reply to the letter and email he received from the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden on 23 January 2017 on flaws in his Department's analysis of the impact of the UK leaving the EU.

Simon Kirby: A reply was sent on 10 February. This answer addresses all three Parliamentary questions relating to the letter sent by the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden on 23 January 2017.

Double Taxation

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses received double taxation relief in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: Corporation TaxThe numbers of incorporated businesses claiming Double Taxation Relief for Corporation Tax are as follows (rounded to the nearest 100): 2013-14: 7,5002014-15: 7,700   Income Tax The numbers of individuals/unincorporated businesses within the income tax self-assessment system, who benefited from reliefs claimed under Double Taxation Agreements between the UK and other countries and reliefs claimed because of other provisions of the relevant Double Taxation Agreements are as follows (rounded to the nearest 1,000): 2013-14: 419,0002014-15: 429,000

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Marketing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the return on investment of its marketing budget in 2016-17.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) marketing activity is subject to rigorous targets for Return on Investment, relating to the value of export wins where marketing activity, such as media promotion, advertising, trade events or missions, is involved.Assessment of the return on investment of marketing activity in 2016/17 is still on-going, as marketing continues until the end of the financial year. Furthermore, leads generated through DIT marketing activity are tracked over a longer term as they take time to be converted into business wins.

Trade Promotion

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what visits to which countries each of the Government's trade envoys have made on since May 2015.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade is responsible for promoting British trade across the world and ensuring the UK takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys work tirelessly to increase exports and drum up demand for British business in around 50 markets worldwide.The Trade Envoy programme has primarily focused on emerging markets and markets where there are varied and significant opportunities in a range of sectors which would benefit from high level engagement, but which have historically received less ministerial attention.Since May 2015, there have been 66 visits by Trade Envoys to their specific markets.



Trade Envoy Visits
(Word Document, 15.75 KB)

World Trade Organisation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether rulings of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body constitute binding legal obligations with which all members of the WTO must comply; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Decisions made by Dispute Settlement Body panels on specific disputes are only binding on the parties to that dispute. Panels are not bound by previous panel decisions, although they tend to follow them.

Overseas Trade

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what account he plans to take of other countries' observance of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when planning new trade deals after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The UK has a strong history of protecting human rights and promoting our values globally. We will consider all options in the design of future bilateral trade and investment agreements. We will of course continue to encourage all states to uphold international human rights obligations and work with those determined to reform.

Overseas Trade: Bangladesh

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he plans to maintain the same trading relationship with Bangladesh after the UK leaves the EU as that which was established by the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The UK believes in a free and open approach to trade.The Government aims to preserve and where possible enhance its trading relationship with developing countries, such as Bangladesh. Ministers and officials are also engaging with counterparts in a range of markets to promote the UK as one of the strongest places to do business, and with which to trade.We remain committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities, and recognise the need for a smooth transition which minimises disruption.

Overseas Trade: Developing Countries

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that trade deals which he negotiates after the UK leaves the EU are equitable to and provide support for poorer and developing countries.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade is working closely with the Department for International Development, on the UK’s future trade policy with developing countries. We remain committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities, recognising the need for a smooth transition which minimises disruption to trading relationships.We are encouraging wealth creation, economic growth and enterprise, all of which enable the poorest to lift themselves out of poverty.

Women and Equalities

Gender: Equality

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how Sustainable Development Goal 5 has been incorporated into the Government Equality Office's single department plan.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government Equalities Office is part of the Department for Education. The Department’s single Departmental plan is currently being updated to allow for, amongst other things, the inclusion of the relevant parts of the Sustainable Development Goals. The revised plan is currently due to be published this spring.

Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles and Aviation

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill.

Mr John Hayes: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Volkswagen

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what reports he has received from Volkswagen on (a) its progress on the technical update of vehicles fitted with defeat devices and (b) any change to its timetable for that update; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: I meet regularly with Volkswagen executives to press them on important issues, including the progress of technical updates being applied to affected vehicles. The most recent meeting was on 6th February. There are 1.2million affected vehicles in the UK and the technical update has been approved for approximately one million of these. Officials are tracking Volkswagen’s progress in updating the vehicles in the UK and as of 7th February 420,000 vehicles had been modified. I have impressed upon the company the need for a speedy roll-out of the technical upgrade, and urged them to treat UK consumers fairly.

Roads: Freight

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of additional road vehicle movements per year resulting from the decision to reduce the budget for rail freight mode shift revenue support grants.

Mr John Hayes: Following the final bid round of 2016/17, the maximum number of lorry journeys that Mode Shift Revenue Grant (MSRS) support would help to remove from Britain’s roads is 983,162 for that year. Funding allocated at the first bid round for 2017/18 and 2018/19 will help to remove up to 796,854 and 776,497 lorry journeys respectively. These are estimates not definitive figures. This is because awards may not be delivered in full. There are also some further bid rounds to come for 2017/18 and 2018/19, which may increase the figures or alter what is covered by this grant and the parallel Waterborne Freight Grant scheme.

High Speed Two: Staff

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what salary was paid to the Interim Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, Ray Hill, during his term of office; and what terms and functions applied to his employment within HS2.

Andrew Jones: HS2 Ltd pays CH2MHill £48,500 + VAT a month for the services of the interim Chief Executive Roy Hill on a pro-rata basis (based on the number of working days per month that are worked by Mr Hill). HS2 Ltd do not hold any other remuneration information for Mr Roy Hill. Mr Hill remains the direct employee of CH2MHill and CH2MHill is therefore responsible for his salary and benefits package.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which schools have been contacted by Hopscotch Consulting under its contract to promote HS2.

Andrew Jones: Hopscotch Consulting have contacted eight schools since it was awarded the contract in October 2016. They are:  SchoolLocationPark Hill PrimaryCoventryParkfield Community SchoolBirminghamArgyle Primary SchoolCamdenSandal Castle Primary SchoolWakefieldAckworth Howard SchoolWakefieldOverseal Primary SchoolBirminghamCarlton Primary SchoolCamdenNetley Primary SchoolCamden

Govia Thameslink Railway: Industrial Disputes

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evidence has been provided by Govia Thameslink Railway in its claim of force majeure to support the assertion that industrial action by staff is unofficial.

Paul Maynard: Govia Thameslink Railway have provided us with a range of confidential information in support of their force majeure claim. This is a complex claim to analyse and the process is ongoing.

A1

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with the Office of Rail and Road on the new dual carriageway planned for 13 miles of the A1 north of Newcastle.

Mr John Hayes: There have been no specific discussions on this scheme between the Office of Road and Rail and my Department. Highways England is delivering this scheme on time and on budget, in line with the plans set out in the Road Investment Strategy.

A1

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the new dual carriageway planned for 13 miles of the A1 north of Newcastle will begin construction.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the new dual carriageway planned for 13 miles of the A1 north of Newcastle.

Mr John Hayes: As set out in the Road Investment Strategy (RIS) of December 2014, construction of the A1 dualling schemes between Morpeth and Ellingham is expected to start works in 2019-2020. This will upgrade 13 miles of the existing single carriageway to dual carriageway between Morpeth and Felton and Alnwick and Ellingham creating a continuous, high-quality dual carriageway from Newcastle to Ellingham. This is subject to completion of statutory planning processes and continuing to demonstrate value for money. The A1 in Northumberland programme will also benefit from a package of smaller scale junction improvements, overtaking lanes and pedestrian improvements north of Ellingham. These are planned to start construction in 2018 and this is also subject to completion of statutory planning processes and continuing to demonstrate value for money. The latest cost estimate range for the scheme is between £242 million and £344 million with the most likely estimate being £290 million.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Industrial Disputes

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) transparency and (b) impartiality of its assessment of the force majeure claims made by Govia Thameslink Railway for industrial action.

Paul Maynard: The assessment of the force majeure claim has been undertaken by permanent members of staff within the Department. All Civil Servants are bound by the Civil Service Code and the four core values of impartiality, integrity, honesty and objectivity. The same process has been applied to Govia Thameslink Railway’s claim as that applied to claims from other operators and the outcome of the assessment will be shared in due course.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's policy will be on the level of parking charges at new parkway stations along the proposed High Speed 2 line in Yorkshire; and if he will make it his policy that revenues from such charges will be reinvested in the local community.

Andrew Jones: No decision has yet been taken about how any parking charges at any parkway station on the proposed High Speed 2 line in Yorkshire would be used. In response to Sir David Higgins's recommendation last summer, the Department has commissioned HS2 Ltd to investigate the potential for an additional parkway station on the M18/Eastern route to serve the South Yorkshire region. HS2 Ltd is due to report its findings in the spring of this year.

Park and Ride Schemes

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the number and capacity of passengers using (a) parkway stations and (b) stations located in towns or cities near parkway stations.

Paul Maynard: No comparative assessment has been made of the number and capacity of passengers currently using (a) parkway stations and (b) stations located in towns or cities near parkway stations. The Office of Rail and Road publishes estimates of the total numbers of people entering, exiting and changing at each station in Great Britain. The latest estimates of station usage reports and data can found at: http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Sri Lanka: Christianity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Sri Lankan Government on the destruction of a church building in Pahariya in North West Sri Lanka in January 2017.

Alok Sharma: We condemn all violence against religious minorities, including the attack on a church in North West Sri Lanka in January. The freedom to practise, change or share your faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a fundamental human right that all people should enjoy. The UK regularly raises human rights concerns with the Sri Lankan government. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend, the Rt Hon. the Baroness Anelay of St Johns stressed the importance of Sri Lanka protecting the rights of all its citizens when she met with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during her visit to Sri Lanka in November 2016.The UK is committed to supporting government and civil society efforts to improve human rights in Sri Lanka and we are currently funding a range of projects in support of this. One of these projects supports interfaith dialogue, aimed at promoting cohesion between those of different backgrounds and beliefs.

Israeli Settlements

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Israeli Prime Minister on the building of settlements.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) met the Prime Minister of Israel on 6 February. They discussed the Middle East Peace Process and the UK’s firm commitment to a two state solution. The Foreign Secretary restated the UK’s position that settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Pitcairn Islands: Taxation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has discussed tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion with the Government of the Pitcairn Islands since the last Joint Ministerial Council.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​It is difficult to hold any discussions on tax avoidance and evasion with the Pitcairn Islands as they do not have a financial centre.

Tristan da Cunha: Taxation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has discussed tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion with the Government of Tristan da Cunha since the last Joint Ministerial Council.

Sir Alan Duncan: It is difficult to hold any discussions on tax avoidance and evasion with Tristan da Cunha as they do not have a financial centre.

St Helena: Taxation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has discussed tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion with the Government of St Helena since the last Joint Ministerial Council.

Sir Alan Duncan: It is difficult to hold any discussions on tax avoidance and evasion with St Helena as they do not have a financial centre.

Syria: Refugees

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Minister in his Department leads on discussions at EU level on the wellbeing of Syrian refugees who have entered mainland Europe.

Sir Alan Duncan: As the Minister for Immigration at the Home Office, my Hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr Goodwill) said in his written response to you on 30 January [61657], the primary responsibility for refugees outside the UK rests with the host country within which they are residing. I am the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister of State with responsibility for Europe. The migration crisis is regularly raised in European discussions, such as the European Council attended by the Prime Minister, and Foreign Affairs Council, attended by the Foreign Secretary.

Zainab al-Khawaja

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the Bahrainian Government on the case of Zainab Al-Khawaja.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 9 June 2016 (PQ 39140). Shortly after the visit of the former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), Zainab Al Khawaja was released from prison on 31 May 2016. We raised Zainab Al Khawaja’s case regularly at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain prior to her release from prison on 31 May 2016.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to work with the Governments of Turkey and Russia on maximising the likelihood of adherence to the ceasefire in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The British Government has made clear publicly the importance of all parties adhering to the ceasefire deal in Syria. We discuss the situation in Syria regularly with Turkey and Russia. Within international fora such as the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), we have highlighted the importance of strengthening and building confidence in the ceasefire; we did this most recently on 2 February.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor adherence to the ceasefire in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK continues to support all efforts to strengthen the ceasefire in Syria, enable humanitarian access and support a return to negotiations on a political settlement. Russia, Turkey and Iran - the guarantors of the 30 December ceasefire agreement – have proposed a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire. To be effective, such a mechanism will need to be genuinely independent and closely coordinated with the United Nations. The UK will continue to speak out, including at the regular meetings of the International Syria Support Group Ceasefire Task Force, should these basic elements of a ceasefire not be adhered to.

USA: Immigration

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to the US Administration on the recent changes in US immigration policy.

Sir Alan Duncan: Following the signing of the Executive Order on 27 January, the Foreign Secretary engaged senior contacts in the US Administration, and the Home Secretary spoke with her US counterpart, in order to clarify that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the United States, and the Executive Order will make no difference to any British passport-holder, irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport.

Ibrahim Halawa

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the Egyptian authorities on the case of Ibrahim Halawa.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As Mr Halawa is an Irish citizen, the Irish Government is taking the lead on his case and has been monitoring his trial; we have offered our support. FCO Ministers have asked the Egyptian authorities to review mass judicial decisions and we continue to raise concerns regarding reports of torture and mistreatment in detention with the Egyptian authorities. We have also raised our concerns at the UN, most recently at the Human Rights Council in September. In our statement we raised our concerns about reports of torture, poor detention conditions and the handing down of death sentences, as well as mass trials.

EU Accession

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is providing to EU accession countries to help them become full EU member states.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK will continue to support countries committed to the accession process, through diplomatic engagement and technical assistance, in meeting the necessary requirements and to encourage cooperation on security, counter-terrorism and migration.

Ukraine: Politics and Government

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Ukraine.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Ukrainian Government faces considerable challenges both in upholding and protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of continuing Russian destabilisation, and in taking forward a comprehensive programme of political and economic reform. The Prime Minister underlined in Parliament on 25th January the UK's "commitment to the independent sovereign state of Ukraine", and our continuing strong political and practical support.

Overseas Aid

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of his Department's spending has contributed towards the UK's Official Development Assistance total in 2016-17.

Sir Alan Duncan: Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend is reported on a calendar year basis. The Department For International Development’s Annual ‘Statistics for International Development’ published in November 2016 shows that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spent 3.2% of total UK ODA in 2015; £391m of the £12,138m total. The FCO’s ODA allocation for FY 2016-17 is £466m.

USA: State Visits

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide an update on plans for the visit of President Trump to the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan: We look forward to welcoming President Trump later this year. We believe the President of the United States should be extended the full courtesy of a State Visit. Dates and arrangements have yet to be finalised.

Colombia: Human Rights

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart on the conditions in which former FARC guerrillas are being required to camp under the terms of the peace agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: We welcome reports that the majority of FARC members have now moved to assembly zones and started to lay down their arms under the terms of the peace agreement.During our meeting on 14 February, the Colombian Labour Minister, Clara Lopez reassured me that this process would be completed by June this year. In response to concerns I raised about the logistical challenges faced at some of the 26 assembly zones, Minister Lopez explained that some of the locations are very remote and require the construction of new roads for supplies to reach them. We also discussed the importance of developing areas affected by the conflict. I will continue to raise this issue during meetings with Colombian Ministers. Our Embassy in Bogota is in regular contact with the UN and the Colombian Ministry for Post Conflict.I welcome recent assistance provided by the UN to the host communities surrounding the assembly zones. Over the last two years, the UK has provided over £10m to the UN Trust Fund for support to the implementation of the peace as well as technical assistance.

Mauritania: Diplomatic Service

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) staff and (b) annual budget is of the UK diplomatic representation in Mauritania.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK diplomatic representation in Mauritania comprises one staff member and an annual budget of £162,504 for the Financial Year 2015/16.

USA: Human Rights

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the protection and promotion of human rights.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary met with the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn on 16 February. During the meeting they reaffirmed our shared goals and agreed to work together on a range of global issues

Department for International Development

Lake Chad Basin: Humanitarian Aid

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether a Minister of her Department plans to attend the donor conference for Nigeria and Lake Chad in Oslo on 24 February 2017.

James Wharton: The UK is the second largest donor to the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and Lake Chad, and has led the humanitarian response, particularly in North East Nigeria. Last year UKAid reached more than 600,000 people, including more than 30,000 severely malnourished children. We are currently considering who will represent the UK at the Oslo Conference.

Lake Chad Basin: Humanitarian Aid

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to make a funding pledge at the donor conference on the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and Lake Chad region in Oslo on 24 February 2017.

James Wharton: The UK is the second largest donor to the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and Lake Chad, and has led the humanitarian response, particularly in North East Nigeria. Last year UKAid reached more than 600,000 people, including more than 30,000 severely malnourished children.The UK will be represented at the Oslo Conference. No decisions have yet been made on a funding pledge.

Overseas Aid: Christianity

Mrs Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to encourage the involvement of church groups and other Christian organisations in the delivery of overseas development projects and programmes.

James Wharton: Faith groups make a significant, wide and distinctive contribution to poverty reduction. As such, DFID encourages their involvement in overseas development and currently provides funding to over 30 faith groups. DFID’s Faith Partnership Principles Paper aims to strengthen partnerships with faith groups, including by building a common understanding of faith and development and documenting the impact of faith groups.

Desalination: Oman

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support and cooperation her Department is providing to the Middle East Desalination Research Centre in Oman.

Rory Stewart: DFID does not provide any support to the Middle East Desalination Research Centre in Oman.

Overseas Aid: India

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much and what proportion of her Department's spending was made in India through the World Bank in 2015-16.

James Wharton: DFID’s imputed share of the World Bank’s net disbursements to India in calendar year 2015 was an estimated £30.5 million. This accounted for 0.3 per cent of total DFID’s official development spend in 2015. However, from July 2017 onwards India, as a Middle Income Country, will not benefit from any new lending from the World Bank’s concessional facility, the International Development Association.

World Bank

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's financial contribution to the World Bank was in 2015-16.

Rory Stewart: The World Bank received £1,223 million in core contributions from the Department for International Development in the calendar year 2015.

Gender: Equality

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to deliver the UN's Step it Up for gender equality agenda.

Rory Stewart: UN Women launched the Step it Up for Gender Equality Campaign in March 2016. The focus of the campaign is on securing resources to ensure that all women and girls have equal opportunities and rights by 2030. The UK provides core annual funding to UN Women of £12m to support global women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Refugees: Females

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to protect female refugees against exploitation and sexual violence.

Rory Stewart: DFID is building on existing work to address new challenges facing female refugees, including a new Women and Girls Protection Fund to protect women and girls on the move in Libya and Europe. The fund will provide over 68,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants with psychosocial support, medical care and specialist case-workers for potential victims of gender-based violence and trafficking.UNHCR leads international action to protect refugees worldwide, and is a signatory to the UK led Call to Action on Preventing Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to assess the practicability of delivering aid to besieged areas of Syria by drone; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Aid delivered by road, by trusted humanitarian partners who ensure it gets to those who need it most, is the most effective way to meet needs in Syria. We are pushing the Assad regime to allow this, while working tirelessly with our partners to examine all other options for getting aid into besieged areas.

Humanitarian Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its humanitarian programme is gender-responsive.

Rory Stewart: In 2013 the UK hosted the ‘Call to Action on Preventing Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies’ where we committed to improving our response to gendered violence in emergencies.At the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, the UK further committed to drive accountability for gender responsive humanitarian action, by supporting the US Real Time Accountability Partnership. This requires our humanitarian partners to make use of internationally agreed tools such as the ‘Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action’ in their programme design.DFID recently announced a new Women and Girls Protection fund that aims to protect women and girls on the move in Libya and Europe. The fund will support over 68,000 vulnerable women protect themselves from trafficking, forced labour and sexual violence.

Overseas Aid: Fraud

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the fraudulent use of aid disbursed by her Department.

Rory Stewart: The Department for International Development has robust measures in place to protect, prevent, and detect the fraudulent use of aid. We have controls embedded throughout the programme cycle, from design through mobilisation, delivery and closure; this includes a comprehensive risk management framework which requires risks to be identified prior to any disbursement of aid.All organisations that receive funding from DFID are required to provide evidence about the use of funds, including audited financial statements which are examined as we monitor programme performance and delivery.We have a zero tolerance approach to fraud and this applies to all those within the delivery chain who are entrusted with UK taxpayers’ funds. When fraud is identified we respond swiftly and effectively to recover funds wherever possible.

Sierra Leone: Non-governmental Organisations

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2016 to Question 54679, which domestic human rights organisations in Sierra Leone the Government has consulted on the Government of Sierra Leone's draft revised Non-Government Organisation Policy Regulations.

James Wharton: The Government of Sierra Leone has run a series of consultations on the draft NGO policy regulations over the last two years. We do not have a list of the organisations that have participated.

Sierra Leone: Non-governmental Organisations

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2016 to Question 54679, if her Department will make representations to the Government of Sierra Leone on publishing the detailed technical assessment of the draft revised Non-Governmental Organisation Policy Regulations produced by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.

James Wharton: The report by International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law was produced for the Government of Sierra Leone as a contribution towards their development of the new draft Non-Governmental Organisation policy. It is for the Government of Sierra Leone to decide whether to publish this report.

Overseas Aid: Fraud

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the National Audit Office report of 9 February 2017, entitled Investigation into the Department's approach to tackling fraud, how much of the two-thirds of the reported fraud loss recovered since 2003 was recovered between (a) 2003 and 2009 and (b) 2010 and 2016.

Rory Stewart: The value of reported fraud loss recovered between (a) FY2003-2004 and FY2009-2010 was £1,833,832 and (b) FY2010-2011 and FY2016-2017 was £9,300,064. YearValue Recovered (£)2003-20041,9722004-200565,2782005-200640,5352006-2007981,9632007-200893,0582008-2009452,3852009-2010198,6412010-2011477,0312011-20121,986,9112012-2013837,3812013-2014566,9912014-20151,552,2922015-20162,235,1692016-20171,644,289Total11,133,896

Overseas Aid: Fraud

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the National Audit Office report of 9 February 2017, entitled Investigation into the Department's approach to tackling fraud, what the value is of the third of reported fraud loss not recovered since 2003.

Rory Stewart: The value of the third of reported fraud loss not recovered between FY2003-2004 and FY2016-2017 was £6,384,486. YearLosses Not Recovered (£)2003-2004983,9742004-200559,9202005-2006576,4352006-2007197,4302007-2008133,6372008-2009253,1432009-2010260,7512010-2011115,1862011-20121,177,9682012-2013492,2172013-2014207,4812014-2015745,3582015-20161,036,4492016-2017144,537Total6,384,486

Department for International Development: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62538, what the number of security passes issued by her Department to people not employed by her Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 13th February to Question number 63269.

Developing Countries: Fisheries

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has provided in the current financial year to projects supporting developing states in tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Rory Stewart: The Department for International Development has not provided direct funds in the current financial year to projects in developing states tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.DfID has provided funds to multilateral agencies and global funds which support ongoing efforts to improve marine governance including tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. For example, UK support to the FAO’s core functions includes the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. The FAO hosts the International Plan of Action (IPOA) to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU), which are to be implemented by countries. In addition, UK support to the Global Environment Facility contributes to investments in international waters to improve and implement governance frameworks.

Department for Education

Integrated Schools

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and (b) her other cabinet colleagues on the principles of integrated education.

Nick Gibb: Education is a devolved matter and approaches to integrated education necessarily take account of the specific characteristics of communities within the different countries of the UK.In England, all publicly funded schools are subject to explicit legal requirements to promote community cohesion. Schools have the freedom to decide how best to do this in the light of their local circumstances. Through inspection, schools are assessed on how well they prepare pupils to work and socialise with those from different backgrounds and show respect for other faiths and cultural diversity.Dame Louise Casey recently published the outcome of her review into opportunity and integration which recommended that the Government promote more integrated schools. We are considering Dame Louise’s recommendations across Government and will respond in due course. We will also consider in particular what lessons can be learned from the experience of integrated schools in Northern Ireland.

Foster Care

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase out-of-hours support for foster carers (a) in Coventry South constituency and (b) nationally; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: All local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that foster carers receive the support and supervision they need in order to care for the children who are placed with them. The National Minimum Standards for fostering services are clear that all fostering services should have an effective out-of-hours advice and support service and should ensure that foster carers are aware of the nature and level of support available to them. We are undertaking a national fostering stocktake to better understand the current provision, what works well and what changes can be made to bring about sustained improvement to the foster care system. This will include reviewing the support foster carers receive.

Schools: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential effect of the new school funding formula on the level of funding for schools in Warrington North constituency in real terms for each of the next three years.

Nick Gibb: Dedicated Schools Grant allocations for 2017-18 have been confirmed and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018. We are currently consulting on a national funding formula for schools, which will be implemented from 2018-19. Our proposals for funding reform will mean that schools will, for the first time, receive a consistent and fair share of the schools budget, so that they can give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential. As a result of our proposals, in the first year of the formula, Warrington local authority would see an overall funding increase in schools funding of 0.5%. Illustrative allocations for the second year of the formula have been not been calculated, but by the time of full implementation of the formula, Warrington schools would see funding gains of 0.6%. For schools in Warrington North, the proposals would mean an overall funding increase of 0.9%, or £0.5 million. Schools that are due to gain funding will do so quickly, with increases of up to 3% in per pupil funding in 2018-19 and a further 2.5% in 2019-20. No school will lose more than 1.5% per year or 3% overall per pupil as a result of our formula.

Baverstock Academy: Closures

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61381, what financial information her Department has provided to the community and stakeholders to inform their representations on the proposed closure of Baverstock Academy.

Edward Timpson: A final decision has not yet been made on the future of the Baverstock Academy. The ‘listening period’, which commenced on 10 January and ended on 7 February, was to invite the community and stakeholders of Baverstock Academy to make representations to the Secretary of State. The Department does not provide information, financial or otherwise, to the public as part of this process.As part of the transparency of academy trusts, they are required to publish their financial accounts annually on their website. This information was therefore readily available to the community and stakeholders to inform their representations to the Secretary of State.The Secretary of State will review the submissions from the community before reaching a final decision. Consideration will be given to all representations to ensure that whatever decision is reached will be in the best interests of the students and local community of Baverstock Academy.

Schools: Closures

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2017 to Question 61379, what criteria her Department uses to assess the value for money of school closures.

Edward Timpson: School closure is managed on a case by case basis so the department does not publish formal criteria. When assessing the cost implications of a case we consider a range of factors. These factors could include: actual and projected pupil numbers for the school; the local demand for places and the capacity of provision in the local area to meet this; the quality of education provided by the school and any existing or projected deficit position.The department’s priority in making decisions about the future of any school is to assess which option will deliver the best educational outcomes for local children so that all children should have access to good or outstanding schools whilst maintaining efficient and effective use of resources.

Universities: Hereford

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce funding for the planned New Model in Technology and Engineering University in Hereford.

Joseph Johnson: The planned New Model in Technology and Engineering University (NMiTE) Hereford is currently under consideration.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of applications from (a) male and (b) female applicants to early years  teacher training programmes.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department will be publishing a workforce strategy in due course, which will seek to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. The strategy will include a focus on what Government can do to help grow the graduate workforce.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2017 to Question 59691, what (a) proportion and (b) number of children who did not achieve a good level of development in 2016 according to the early years foundation stage framework attended a maintained nursery school.

Caroline Dinenage: In 2016, 69.3% of children achieved a good level of development as defined by the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework. Of the 30.7% of children who did not achieve a good level of development in 2016, 98.5% (equating to 202,393 children) attended a maintained setting.The Profile is an assessment based on a teacher’s observations of each child in their reception year, and is designed to ensure that parents and Year 1 teachers are informed about their learning and development attainment. The Profile is not intended to hold providers to account.

Class Sizes

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size was in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: This information is published annually. The most recent figures can be found in the underlying data of the statistical first release available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016Average class size in St Helens North constituency as at January each year: 2010 to 2016 2010201120122013201420152016State-funded primary schoolsN/AN/AN/A26.626.927.527.2State-funded secondary schoolsN/AN/AN/A19.919.919.119.6Source: January school census  2010201120122013201420152016State-funded primary schoolsN/A25.725.825.725.926.226.2State-funded secondary schoolsN/A19.519.419.219.018.919.1Average class size in Merseyside LAs (Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) as at January each year: 2010 to 2016Source: January school census 2010201120122013201420152016State-funded primary schools26.426.626.826.826.927.027.1State-funded secondary schools20.520.420.520.320.120.120.4 Average class size in England as at January each year: 2010 to 2016Source: January school census  A UK figure is not available. As education is a devolved matter statistics on schools are published separately by the four administrations.

Children's Centres

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children's centres have been de-designated in each local authority since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: As at 31 January 2017 there were 3,247 main children’s centres and sites open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network. Children’s centre records are maintained by local authorities and are made publicly available via the Department’s “EduBase portal” at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml.Based on the information supplied by local authorities, a list of the total numbers of main children’s centres and sites that have ceased providing services as part of children’s centre networks in each local authority since 2010 is attached[1]. [1] Children’s centre numbers are based on information supplied by local authorities as at 9 February 2017.



Children's centres
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.15 KB)

Children's Centres

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children's centres were deemed (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requiring improvement and (d) unsatisfactory (i) nationally, (ii) regionally and (iii) in each local authority in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many such centres remain to be inspected.

Caroline Dinenage: The most recent children’s centre inspection outcomes as at 31 August 2015 are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/childrens-centres-statistics.We do not hold details of the number of children’s centres that remain to be inspected. Ofsted was required to inspect all children’s centres established prior to 1 September 2010 by 31 August 2015.

Antibiotics: Primary Education

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will introduce compulsory education on antibiotics and antibiotic resistance as part of the primary school curriculum.

Nick Gibb: The Government has no plans to introduce compulsory education on antibiotics and antibiotic resistance as part of the primary school curriculum. We would expect this to be covered in the secondary science curriculum as part of the curriculum that covers health, disease and the development of medicines during Key Stage 4, and is part of the new GCSEs in biology or combined science. Key Stage 4 is the most appropriate point at which to teach this topic, as by this time, pupils will have been taught the foundational knowledge they will need to properly understand it.

GCE A-level

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students from each ethnic background at state-funded schools and further education colleges achieved three or more A* or A grades at A level in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held by the department.

GCE A-level

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on attainment at A-level by students from different ethnic backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held by the Department.

GCE A-level

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on attainment at A-level by students from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held by the Department.

STEM Subjects: Females

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to encourage the uptake of STEM subjects by female students.

Nick Gibb: 12,000 more girls took STEM A levels in 2016 compared to 2010, and the Government is committed to doing more to encourage girls to study STEM subjects.Improving the quality of teaching is vital to encourage pupils of both genders to study STEM subjects. We are investing up to £67m over the term of this Parliament to recruit and train more mathematics and physics teachers, and offering bursaries and scholarships to attract top graduates into mathematics and science teaching. We are also providing support to schools to raise the quality of mathematics and science teaching through programmes such as the network of Maths Hubs and Science Learning Partnerships, and the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. Two of these programmes, the Stimulating Physics Network and the Further Maths Support Programme, have a particular focusing on engaging more girls in mathematics and physics.The Government also supports STEM Ambassadors, a nationwide network of over 30,000 volunteers from a wide range of STEM employers and businesses. STEM Ambassadors engage with pupils to provide stimulating and inspirational activities to increase their interest in STEM subjects and to raise awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer.

Children's Centres

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of Sure Start children's centres for the provision of children's services.

Caroline Dinenage: Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families, and a duty to consult where changes are planned to local children’s centre provision.As at 31 January 2017 there were 3,247[1] main children’s centres and sites open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network. Children’s centre records are maintained by local authorities and are made publicly available via the Department’s “EduBase portal” at: http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/home.xhtml. [1] Children’s centre numbers are based on information supplied by local authorities as at 9 February 2017.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to repeal section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920 in so far as that provision applies to voluntary work by persons under the age of 16 engaged in heritage railways, canal charities and similar undertakings.

Edward Timpson: The Government has no current plans to repeal this legislation, but we are keeping the legislation under review. We appreciate the valuable work done by the organisations mentioned, and understand that young people may benefit from volunteering, but it is important that young people in employment, whether volunteers or paid employees, work safely in suitable environments.

Teachers: Nottingham

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the new national funding formula for schools on the recruitment and retention of teachers in Nottingham City.

Nick Gibb: The Government has protected the core schools budget in real terms since 2010. We are introducing a fair funding formula so that schools across the country are funded according to the needs of their pupils rather than where those pupils happen to live. On average, schools in Nottingham would be the third highest funded in the country, outside London, under our proposals. We are currently consulting on the proposals with the consultation closing on 22 March. We recognise that schools will need to make efficiency savings. In response to this we have produced tools, information and guidance for schools, including Workforce Planning Guidance. This guidance contains links to advice and case studies, as well as lists of options and questions for school leaders to consider when reviewing their staff structures.

Sex and Relationship Education

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2016 to Question 47734, whether Ofsted's inspection of sex and relationships education taught in academies includes an assessment of whether the curriculum is inclusive of LGBT young people.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Pupil Premium

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of potential change to the number of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding once universal credit has been rolled out.

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any change to the criteria which determine eligibility for pupil premium funding will result from the roll-out of universal credit.

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria the Government will use to determine eligibility for free school meals once universal credit has been rolled out.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and other government departments to consider new criteria for determining entitlement to benefits-related free school meals as the rollout of Universal Credit progresses. We will communicate our proposals in due course. There are no plans to change the criteria for determining eligibility for pupil premium.

Schools: Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools are required to inform her Department when their websites and servers are hacked.

Nick Gibb: As per my answer to PQ 62140, the Department for Education provides guidance to schools on how to protect data including the key principles, obligations and duties in relation to the Data Protection Act. Schools are not required to notify the Department if their website of servers are hacked, but in the event of a suspected serious breach or loss of personal or private information, schools should report the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Sex and Relationship Education

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) academies and (b) maintained secondary schools that provide sex and relationships education.

Edward Timpson: We do not collect data on the curriculum provision of individual schools, including on the provision of sex education. Sex education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools. Primary maintained schools and academies are encouraged to teach it as an important part of delivering a balanced curriculum.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children and Young People

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' report, entitled The SEND reforms in England: supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.

Edward Timpson: I welcome RCSLT’s report. It is encouraging that the majority of speech and language therapists, feel that parents and carers have been effectively involved in the decision making process and that they feel confident delivering the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms effectively.However, we know there is still work to do, which is why we have invested £1.7 million in supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs since 2014, and we are currently procuring a contract focusing on improving the support provided.

Schools: Safety

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department will complete its internal review of health and safety advice to schools; when she plans to publish revised advice on school trips and travel; and whether that advice will take into account risks posed by poor driver accommodation and driver fatigue.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s internal review of its health and safety advice is ongoing. Officials are currently working with key stakeholders to ensure schools are provided with appropriate and up-to-date advice, including information about the potential risks associated with travel on school trips. The Department will publish revised health and safety advice later in the year.

Secondary Education: Standards

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish its guidance on Key Stage 4 performance tables in qualifications in the technical award category for 2019.

Nick Gibb: We are currently finalising the details of the technical and applied qualifications that will count in the 2019 performance tables. We are hoping to publish the list as soon as possible.

Students: Loans

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on whether the planned sale of the student loans book will affect the repayment formula for people paying off such loans.

Joseph Johnson: The position of people who hold student loans, including those whose loans are within the scope of the planned sale, will not be affected in any way as a result of the planned sale. The sale would not and cannot alter the mechanisms and terms of repayment.

Church Commissioners

Church Commissioners: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2017 to Question 62530, what the number of security passes issued by the Church Commissioners to people not employed by the Church Commissioners is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The number of non-staff security passes issued by the National Church Institutions, of which the Church Commissioners are a member, fall into the following categories:1. Senior members and staff of the General Synod (Church of England’s Governing Parliament) in the following categories:’53 Diocesan bishops and elected suffragan bishops’ who make up the House of Bishops. These bishops are members of the General Synod and are issued passes as senior leaders of the Church of England and Chairs of National Church Boards and Councils‘Synod members’ who are Chairs of committees or members of the Archbishops’ Council as the executive body of the General Synod‘Non-staff with specific access’ make up a very small number of people such as the Chaplain to the General Synod2. 424 other non NCI staff have a specific business case which requires a security pass, these fall into the following categories:Hospitality StaffStaff of the Corporation of Church House who manage the buildingTenants of the building on whose behalf the Church Commissioners are unable to answerContractors / maintenance staffA small number of external staff who have been given specific oversight roles such as consultants engaged for specific independent pieces of work

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Data Protection: EU Law

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the relevant European Commissioner on an adequacy decision for the protection of data transferred between the EU and the UK.

Matt Hancock: As part of plans for the UK’s exit from the EU, the Government will be seeking to ensure that data flows between the UK and the EU are uninterrupted, and will be considering all the available options that will provide legal certainty for businesses and citizens alike. Whilst negotiations to leave the EU have not begun, it would be inappropriate to speculate in any detail as to what arrangement we will seek to put in place.

Overseas Broadcasting: EU Countries

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on broadcasting rights for UK companies in other EU member states.

Matt Hancock: The UK’s negotiations for exiting the EU are complex and the Government is focused on securing the best deal for Britain. Together with the Department for Exiting the EU we are analysing all the impacts of leaving the EU.

Social Networking

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the facility people have to move and re-use data held by social networking websites; and if she will make a statement.

Matt Hancock: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduces a new right to data portability, which will allow individuals to have their personal data provided by a data controller (like a social networking website) in a commonly used machine readable format; and where practical, have such data transmitted directly to another controller.The GDPR will be directly applicable in the UK from 25 May 2018.

Nuisance Calls

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 2.289 of Budget 2015, how much of the £3.5 million announced to trial the development and provision of call blocking technology and tackle nuisance calls has been spent or allocated to date.

Matt Hancock: Of the £3.5m package announced by the Chancellor in the March 2015 Budget: £2.m has been allocated to the nuisance calls competition for innovative solutions to tackle nuisance calls. £0.5m has been allocated to the National Trading Standards Scams Team to provide call blocking devices to vulnerable people nationwide and report its effects. £1m has been allocated for other activities to tackle nuisance calls.

Gambling: Licensing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many online gambling websites located outside the UK and without a Gambling Commission remote-operating licence were sent letters reminding them of the legal position on licensing in the UK between the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 coming into force and 31 December 2016.

Tracey Crouch: Between 1 November 2014 and 31 December 2016, the Gambling Commission wrote to approximately 144 unlicensed remote gambling operators to remind them of the legal position on licensing in Great Britain and to require them to immediately cease their activities in Great Britain or obtain a licence to operate.Where websites are identified that are offering facilities for gambling to customers in Britain without the appropriate licence the Commission will take action to ensure compliance with the licensing regime.

Gambling: Licensing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Gambling Commission remote-operating licences are held by gambling websites based outside of the UK; and in which jurisdictions such websites are located.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Gambling Commission remote-operating licences are held by gambling websites based in the UK.

Tracey Crouch: The Gambling Commission does not require operators to specify a jurisdiction as their principal location. Gambling operators that transact with consumers in Britain can operate from multiple locations and may have remote gambling equipment located in more than one jurisdiction. Operators are required to report to the Commission where their equipment is based. At 1st January 2017 there were 283 operators that held Gambling Commission remote-operating licences. Of these, 79 have remote gambling equipment based in GB only. 59 have no remote gambling equipment in GB. And 145 have equipment in both GB and elsewhere. Excluding Britain there were 31 jurisdictions where remote gambling equipment was located.

Gambling: Licensing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times payment providers (a) were asked by the Gambling Commission to block payments to online gambling websites not licenced in the UK and (b) blocked such payments between the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 coming into force and 31 December 2016.

Tracey Crouch: Between 1 November 2014 and 31 December 2016, there have been approximately 13 occasions where the Gambling Commission has asked payment providers to prevent payments to online gambling website operators not licensed in the Great Britain but believed to be transacting with consumers in Great Britain. On 12 of those occasions the payment provider either terminated their relationship with the unlicensed operator or took steps to ensure that the unlicensed gambling website was no longer available to consumers in Great Britain. In the other case, enforcement activity is currently ongoing.

Sportsgrounds: Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has received on improving disability access to sports venues; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: I have received a number of representations from members of the public about improving disability access to sports venues. Our Sports Strategy sends a clear message to all sports that sports stadia should provide an inclusive environment that welcomes all spectators. While the spotlight on accessibility is rightly on football, we want all sports to ensure they fulfil their legal obligations towards disabled fans. We will be looking to other sports to follow football’s example, to ensure disabled spectators receive the legal requirements to which they are entitled. Ensuring sport is inclusive and accessible for spectators remains a priority, and I want to continue to see concerted action taken by clubs to fulfil their legal obligations towards disabled supporters. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the regulatory body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act 2010 The EHRC has powers to ensure service providers, including sports stadia, fulfil their legal obligations under the Act.

Sportsgrounds: Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will meet Muscular Dystrophy UK's Trailblazers to discuss accessibility at sports venues.

Tracey Crouch: I would be very happy to meet representatives from Muscular Dystrophy UK's Trailblazers to discuss accessibility at sports venues. Our Sports Strategy sends a clear message to all sports that sports stadia should provide an inclusive environment that welcomes all spectators. While the spotlight on accessibility is rightly on football, we want all sports to ensure they fulfil their legal obligations towards disabled fans. We will be looking to other sports to follow football’s example, to ensure disabled spectators receive the legal requirements to which they are entitled. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the regulatory body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act 2010 The EHRC has powers to ensure service providers, including sports stadia, fulfil their legal obligations under the Act.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Avian Influenza: Disease Control

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department's officials had with officials of the devolved institutions on preventing further outbreaks of avian influenza in the last three months.

George Eustice: Defra officials have met colleagues from the administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales several times a week over the last 3 months to discuss the disease control policies and options for controlling and preventing outbreaks of avian influenza. This is in addition to formal monthly meetings of the four U.K. Chief Veterinary Officers.

Dogs: Imports

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, from what countries dogs were imported into the UK for (a) non-commercial reasons under the Pet Travel Scheme and (b) commercial reasons in 2016.

George Eustice: The countries from which dogs were imported into the UK in 2016 for non-commercial reasons under the Pet Travel Scheme, as indicated in data provided by carriers, are listed in part (a) of the attached Annex. Countries from which dogs were imported into the UK for commercial reasons are listed in part (b). 



annex PQ 63358
(Word Document, 24.5 KB)

Inland Waterways: East of England

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions the Environment Agency has had with local authorities in the Anglian region on reopening the navigable waterways in that region which have been closed by the Environment Agency since 2006.

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will have discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region which have been closed by that agency since 2006.

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the cost to the public purse of reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region which have been closed by the Environment Agency since 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: No navigations on Anglian Waterways have been closed permanently since 2006. For health and safety reasons, and to protect the general public and those who use the waterways, the Environment Agency has temporarily closed some assets such as locks and landing stages, that have made some waterways difficult to access for some craft.   The Environment Agency has not held any recent discussions with local authorities in the Anglian region about the re-opening of closed navigable waterways in that region. The Environment Agency will consider the restoration and re-opening of closed navigable waterways depending on the amount of future funding available and the importance, such as the level of use, of the waterway to be re-opened.   The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Environment Agency on reopening the navigable waterways in the Anglian region.

Marine Protected Areas

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral evidence of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Environmental Audit Committee of 31 January 2017, what powers of oversight and enforcement the Council of Europe has in relation to monitoring marine protected areas in compliance with the Bern Convention.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: For Contracting Parties to the Bern Convention, who are Member States of the European Union, the Natura 2000 Network provides Member States’ contributions to the Emerald Network of protected areas established in accordance with the Bern Convention. The rules established by European Council Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC apply to these areas until we leave the European Union. If there is a complaint that a Bern Convention Contacting Party is not complying with its Convention obligations, this matter can be brought to the attention of the Bern Convention Standing Committee. The Government is currently considering the impacts of leaving the EU, including future arrangements for existing legislation. This will include future arrangements for the Natura 2000 suite of sites.

Industrial Estates: Worksop

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential risks to public safety from the Trent Valley Crown Estate site used for recycling in Worksop.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to pursue enforcement action on the site owned by the Crown Estate in Worksop previously occupied by Trent Valley Recycling; and if she will make a statement.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the Government's potential liabilities in the event that fire occurs at the Crown Estate site in Worksop previously occupied by Trent Valley Recycling.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency is currently pursuing the former owners and operators of the Trent Valley Recycling (TVR) site and all those connected for offences under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.The Environment Agency has been working with partners from the Nottinghamshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF) to identify the risks associated with the site. The main risk to the public is the potential for the abandoned waste on site to catch fire. There is a low risk of this waste self-combusting, but there is a risk of someone gaining access to the site and deliberately setting fire to the waste which could result in a major fire. The site, however, is fenced off and the entrance secured.Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has produced a tactical fire plan for the site, outlining the steps they would take in such an event. All partners have contributed to this plan and a Tactical Liaison Group will be established in the event of a major fire.The Local Resilience Forum has estimated that a major fire at the site is likely to last a number of weeks. A fire at a similar site in north Nottinghamshire in October 2016 required a fire service presence for 6 weeks and cost in the region of £1.5 million. Other partners in the LRF would have costs associated with tackling a major fire also.

Industrial Estates: Worksop

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in HM Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government on environmental risks posed by the Crown Estate-owned site in Worksop previously occupied by Trent Valley recycling.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has revoked Trent Valley Recycling’s environmental permit and is investigating the former owners and operators of the site. It is also working with the local resilience forum to ensure that plans are in place to deal with any eventualities on the site. I have not made any representations to Ministerial colleagues about the site.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit: Scotland

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Scottish Government's report entitled, Scotland's Place in Europe, published on 20 December 2016, whether he plans to accept any of the proposals of that report within his future negotiating framework.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government's White Paper sets out the basis for the Government's 12 negotiating objectives to build a global UK with a strong new partnership with the EU after our exit. The third chapter of this White Paper sets out that as we leave the EU we strengthen the precious union between the four nations of the United Kingdom. To this end we are working to ensure we get the best possible deal for the whole of the UK. The Scottish Government set out their position in their Brexit paper just before Christmas and it was formally presented to the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU negotiations in January. The Secretary of State has also met with Michael Russell, Scottish Government Minister on Scotland's Place in Europe, to discuss the report. We continue to look closely at their proposals and the evidence underpinning their position - and there are a number of areas where we are in agreement - on ensuring access to the Single Market for goods and services, securing UK nationals' status in the EU, protecting workers rights, and ensuring that Scottish and other British universities should continue to have access to the best of European talent, and research collaboration. But our guiding principle must be to ensure that, as we leave the European Union, no new barriers to living and doing business within our own Union are created.The White Paper also sets out that no decisions currently taken by the devolved administrations will be removed from them and we will use the opportunity of bringing decision making back to the UK to ensure that more decisions are devolved.We will continue to engage all of the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament, throughout the process. At the January plenary session of the Joint Ministerial Committee, ministers agreed to intensify their work ahead of the triggering of Article 50 and to continue at the same pace thereafter.

Free Movement of People

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has to negotiate visa-free travel for British citizens in the EU as a part of negotiations for the UK to exit the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK’s post-exit immigration framework is yet to be determined.At every step of these negotiations we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.

Electrical Safety

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he plans to take during negotiations on the UK leaving the EU to ensure that electrical safety in the workplace is protected after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Jones: The government has been clear that the same protections for workers will remain in place after the United Kingdom exits the European Union as are currently in place. This includes the obligations on employers under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and regulations on electrical safety at work.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Staff

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2017 to Question 60045, how many full-time equivalent staff his Department had as of 1 January 2017.

Mr David Jones: All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. Recruitment into the Department is currently ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 300 staff, and is growing fast.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many security passes into IPSA are issued to people (a) not directly employed by and (b) who are not civil servants who work in IPSA.

Mr Charles Walker: 13 passes granting entry to IPSA's offices have been issued to individuals who are not directly employed by IPSA.Three of these individuals are temporary members of staff engaged through an agency, three are cleaners who have access to the office outside of working hours and the remaining seven are staff at IPSA's IT service provider.With regards to (b), the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 states that IPSA's staff are not to be regarded as the servants or agents of the Crown. Individuals directly employed by IPSA are not considered civil servants.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Pay

Jon Trickett: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the total pay bill was for (a) male and (b) female employees in IPSA in 2015-16; and what the average per capita spend from that pay bill was for men and women in that year.

Mr Charles Walker: IPSA publishes a large amount of information relating to our operations as part of our annual report and accounts, following the end of each financial year. Copies of these reports can be found on its website at the following address: https://www.theipsa.org.uk/publications/annual-reports-and-accounts/During 2015-16, IPSA employed an average of 32 female and 27 male employees. This figure includes full and part-time staff, but excludes Board Members and temporary project staff engaged through an agency.The total gross pay for male employees in 2015-16 was £1,091,483.80. The total gross pay for female employees was £1,201,905.81. These figures include part-time staff, whose gross pay has been pro-rated to their working hours.Using these figures, the average per capita spend for male employees was £40,425.33, and for female employees was £37,559.56.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62528,what the number of security passes issued by his Department to people not employed by his Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Jeremy Wright: The number of security passes issued to people not directly employed by the Law Officer’s Departments and who are not civil servants are shown in the table below. A breakdown of the staff and nature of work has been provided. Individual departments are responsible for managing access to their sites. Law Officer’s Department Security Passes Held by Non-Staff Type of Staff and Nature of Work. Serious Fraud Office 232Legal counsel, specialist contractors or secondees working on SFO casework: 210 Technology support or cleaning services: 22Government Legal Department and HMCPSI 328Medical Research Council : 272 London Continental Railways: 56Crown Prosecution Service82Facilities staff (building maintenance, cleaning, security): 40 IT contractors: 37 Records management contractors: 3 Confidential waste contractors: 2Attorney General's Office 15Advocate General, Legal Secretary & Head of Advisory: 3 Ministerial Drivers: 2 Maintenance, cleaning and security: 10

Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers recruited since 2015 have retained their job after a probation period for (a) one year and (b) two years or more.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Analysis on the rate of prison officers leaving within the first year of service and prison officer leaver numbers by length of service was included in the National Offender Management Service Workforce Statistics Bulletin for 30 September 2016, which is available on gov.uk.Retention rates after two years of appointment are not yet available for staff appointed in 2015.

Police Cautions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been given 15 cautions or more in each of the last five years by age group.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have had 15 criminal convictions or more in each of the last five years by age group.

Sir Oliver Heald: The data on the number of offenders with 15 or more previous cautions or convictions is available on GOV.UK.

Prisoners on Remand: Police Custody

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many remand prisoners have been held in police stations until a prison place became available rather than returned to prison following a court appearance in the last 12 months.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Prisoners are only held in police custody following a court appearance in exceptional circumstances. For example, when a court is sitting late and there is not enough time to return to their establishment. This practice has been in place since 2004.In order to establish how many are held on remand we would need to contact Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) contractors to review all prisoner records for those locked out to establish which ones were on remand as this is not held centrally and this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prostitution: Convictions

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions under section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 have been successful.

Dr Phillip Lee: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts under section 53A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as amended by Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, in England and Wales from 2010 to 2015 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table. The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts of offences related to Policing and Crime Act 2009 (1), England and Wales, 2010 to 2015 (2)(3)   Poutcome201020112012201320142015   Proceeded against49179--2Found Guilty43126--2   - ' Nil  (1) Includes the following offences: Sec 53A of Sexual Offences act 2003 amended by Policing and Crime Act 2009.(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.   (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many prisons operational capacity was exceeded in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested can be found at: GOV.UK

Ministry of Justice: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62540, what the number of security passes issued by her Department to people not employed by her Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Reoffenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recalls to prison there have been for (a) breach of licence and (b) new offence in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recalls to prison to each prison establishment there have been in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the time spent in custody on recall was for each prisoner so recalled in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The data on how many recalls to prison there have been for breach of licence is available on GOV.UK. All other information requested is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Jeff Sessions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what communications she has had with President Trump's nominee for Attorney General since his formal nomination.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Secretary of State for Justice wrote a congratulatory letter to Jeff Sessions, Attorney General of the United States, on 14 February 2017.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62543, what the number of security passes issued by his Department to people not employed by his Department is; what business needs suffice for such a security pass to be granted; and what the number of passes issued to people who work for private companies which have currently or previously been awarded government contracts or which are bidding for such contracts is.

David Mundell: I refer the hon Member to the answer given on 13 February 2017 (UIN 63275).

Cabinet Office

Absent Voting: Reform

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to reform postal voting to protect against voter fraud.

Chris Skidmore: The Government believes that electoral fraud is unacceptable on any level. The Government’s response to Sir Eric Pickles’ review, Securing the ballot, sets out a comprehensive programme of reform for strengthening our electoral system. Sir Eric’s review identified a number of areas where the system could be tightened, and the Government’s response sets out a number of measures for tackling postal voting fraud.For example, the Government intends to seek legislative opportunities to extend the provisions on ballot secrecy, and the offences already in place for voting in person, to postal voting. We will also carefully consider the practical implications of introducing a ban on the handling of postal ballot papers by campaigners. These and other measures outlined in the Government’s response are an important part of ensuring that we can build a democracy that works for everyone.

Social Services: Surrey

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and Surrey County Council regarding the funding of social care.

Ben Gummer: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 20 February 2017 to PQ63734

Electoral Register: Internet

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions the Government has had with electoral management system suppliers to assess the viability of an online registration checking tool; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: Introducing an online registration checking tool is one of many options to be considered to address the issue of duplicate applications which, the Government recognises, is causing concern among the electoral community. We are committed to tackling the issue and have started a process to examine the scale of the problem so we can identify all the options open to us. This process includes working with the electoral management system suppliers to identify if any improvements can be made to the system functionality.

Average Earnings

Conor McGinn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average annual pay for (a) men and (b) women in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the UK was in each year since 2010.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter for Member - Average Annual Pay
(PDF Document, 158.94 KB)

Government Departments: Staff

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of how many staff and negotiators government departments will need to recruit for the negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Ben Gummer: All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary on negotiations.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many security passes into the House of Commons Commission are issued to people (a) not directly employed by and (b) who are not civil servants who work in the House of Commons Commission.

Tom Brake: The total number of security passes issued to people not employed by the House of Commons Commission is 12,834. The breakdown of this figure is: Members of the House of Commons and their spouses/partners – 1,087Members of the House of Lords and their spouses/partners – 1,352Staff of Members of both Houses, political party staff sponsored by Members and staff of party research units – 3,290Contractors – 3,174Members of the Metropolitan Police contracted by Parliament – 557Government officials – 2,211Specialist staff of parliamentary bodies – 70Specialist Advisers – 59Roll A Agents & specified legal advisers used by the House – 94Media – 415Union representatives for House staff – 2Former Members of both Houses – 489Residents of the Parliamentary Estate – 19Retired senior parliamentary officials – 7MEPs – 8

Parliament: Temporary Employment

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many contract staff the House employs on zero-hours contracts; and what information it holds on the number of such staff employed by the House of Lords.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission does not hold this information about staff employed by its contractors. The House is committed to offering guaranteed minimum hours contracts to all its directly employed staff. The House of Commons Commission does not hold such information relating to contractors used by the House of Lords.